


switched

by starryeos



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Heavy Angst, M/M, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Single Parent Jung Wooyoung, Single Parent Kang Yeosang, Strangers to Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26979886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starryeos/pseuds/starryeos
Summary: Their daughters were switched at birth. Single dads Yeosang and Wooyoung don’t know what to do.
Relationships: Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 21
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

Yeosang is happy and content with his life. He has his four, almost five-year-old daughter, he has his three best friends, he has a job with a good pay; a good enough pay to keep a roof over Yeosang and Haewon's head, food on the table and clothes on their back. And despite Yeosang having a degree in Photography, but working an office job, Yeosang is happy as long as his daughter is happy and healthy.

Haewon is the only thing keeping Yeosang sane and happy at this point.

Yeosang opens Haewon’s wardrobe and looks through it, balancing his phone between his shoulder and ear as he looks for suitable clothes for the mid-November chill.

“You’re still coming to Winter Wonderland with us, right?” He speaks into the phone as he pulls out a pink sweatshirt and some light wash jeans.

The frown is evident in San’s voice as he replies, saying, “ _Of course. Do you think I’d actually ditch last minute? I’m hurt, Yeosangie._ ”

As the young father throws the clothes onto the bed, he sits down on the edge. He shakes his head even though his best friend can’t see him, “No, obviously not. I was just making sure. Haewon’s looking forward to see you.”

“ _No one’s more excited than me. I can’t wait to see my baby. I took off work today just for her._ ”

Yeosang smiles softly, picking at a loose thread on his daughter’s bed as he takes the phone into his other hand, “Thank you for this, San. I really don’t know what I’d do without you,” he pauses. “Without Seonghwa hyung or Hongjoong hyung, too.”

San senses the underlying meaning and realises that Yeosang isn’t just talking about him taking work off, “ _You’d be just fine without us, Yeosang. We do help you out, but this is all you._ ”

The older bites his bottom lip and chews on it, his fingers still playing with the thread, “Not really.”

His best friend’s voice is stern as he speaks, “ _Yeosangie, I know your life didn’t go to plan. I know you had your whole future planned out and this is nothing like what you hoped, but you made a life for you and your baby. That’s all you, Sangie._ ”

“But—”

“ _Yes, we helped. Seonghwa hyung, Hongjoong hyung and I helped you when it got a little too much, but the amazing life you’re giving to your baby?_ ” San cuts him off and then carries on, “ _No one can take credit for that but you._ ”

Yeosang sighs as he grips his phone a little tighter, “Is it the best life I can give her though?” He whispers into the phone. “Her mother isn’t here; she only has one parent.”

Yeosang wants everything for his daughter, but he knows he can't always give her that. He knows he's not the best father at times, and that he gets frustrated and angry, more at himself than Haewon.

He can't help but think sometimes that his baby would've had a better life without him. He struggled a lot with money when Haewon was first born. Being a Photography graduate, he couldn't find a good pay job for the first year after graduating.

When Haewon was born less than a year after graduating, the young father had to get a lot of help from his friends and they helped without question. Though now, Yeosang feels indebted to them, even though Yeosang knows they helped out because they love him. He knows they're always behind him.

He's doing everything he can to keep his daughter healthy and happy, but he's not confident he can do that. He's not confident in his abilities. He feels like he has to do better. Yeosang knows he can't give her everything, but he knows he has to give her his best as her father.

“ _Yeo, listen to me,_ ” the younger boy says seriously through the other end of the line. “ _Is Haewon happy?_ ”

“As happy as a toddler can be, I guess,” Yeosang replies, hands still fidgeting.

“ _Does she have a roof over her head? Does she have clothes to keep her warm? Food to keep her full and healthy?_ ”

The father nods, but then speaks up when he realises San can't see him, “Yeah.”

“ _Exactly. And the most important thing is, she has a dad who loves her so much that it can't be put into words,_ " San says softly. " _She doesn't need anything else. Her mother isn’t here, but you are. She only needs you right now._ ”

“Thank you, Sannie,” Yeosang whispers into the phone.

The younger sighs, but the smile can be heard in his voice, “ _Always, Yeosangie. Please stop feeling like this._ ”

They both don’t say anything for a while, the line silent on both sides, only the sounds of their light breathing being heard.

But Yeosang can’t help feeling like this. He became a dad at a young age unexpectedly and without the help of Haewon’s mother, it’s so hard. He just feels so tired sometimes.

Having his friends by his side help him more than words can explain, and he will forever be grateful.

“ _Hey, I love you,_ ” San finally speaks, not letting Yeosang’s thoughts develop any further. “ _Get Haewonie ready, I’ll pick you guys up in fifteen, okay? Tell her I love her._ ”

“Okay,” the older whispers. “Love you, San.”

The two boys hang up and Yeosang doesn’t allow himself to overthink any further, calling his daughter into her bedroom from the living room where he left her watching television.

He hears little footsteps make their way upstairs and into her room.

“Are we going now, Daddy?” Her soft voice asks as she walks over to him.

Yeosang smiles and lifts her up into his arm, kissing her hair, “Uh-huh. Uncle Sannie will be here soon.”

Her eyes widen and she squeals a little, “Forgot Uncle Sannie was coming!”

It’s obvious who her favourite uncle is.

The blond-haired boy kisses his daughter one more time, on the forehead, and lets her down so he can help her get dressed, “I’m gonna tell him you forgot about him.”

Yeosang’s teasing, but Haewon frowns and cries out, “No! Please don’t, Daddy. He’ll think I don’t like him anymore.”

He picks up Haewon’s sweatshirt and pulls her forward to pull of the clothes she wore to Reception earlier. It gets colder in the night, so Yeosang wanted to get her into something warmer.

“Uncle Sannie would never. He knows he’s your favourite,” Yeosang says, smiling as he slips her sweatshirt over her head, next helping her with her jeans. “He always brags to Uncle Hwa and Uncle Joongie.”

“I love Uncle Hwa and Uncle Joongie, too!”

“I know you do, sweetheart.”

“Do they think I don’t like them?” Haewon pouts as she looks down, probably thinking about her uncles being upset with her.

“Of course not, baby. They know you love them with your whole heart,” Yeosang moves up from the bed to get the hairbrush.

He calls Haewon over to where he’s standing and she obliges, standing in front of him with her back facing him.

“Are you sure, Daddy?” The little girl asks as Yeosang pulls her hair into a half up-half down style, securing it in place with black bow.

When the dad is pleased with his work, he puts the brush down and bends to Haewon’s height. He turns her around and faces her towards him, saying, “Of course I’m sure. Daddy knows everything.”

Haewon smiles slightly before grabbing her dad’s face in her hands, kissing his nose, a little sloppily. Yeosang groans, but he’s trying to hide a grin as he does the same thing to her.

Yeosang sends his daughter downstairs back to her television show so he can get dressed. He has his work clothes on so once he’s in his room, he changes into something more casual. When he’s done, he grabs his things such as his phone and wallet before making his way downstairs.

His phone chimes with a message as he’s putting Haewon’s shoes on for her. Yeosang knows it’s San letting him know he’s here so instead of pulling out his phone straight away, he pulls it out of his pocket once he’s finished with putting on his shoes too, and their coats.

**_choi san  
_ ** _im outside  
bring me my baby_

 **_kang yeosang  
_ ** _i'm coming :)_

 **_choi san  
_ ** _not u  
wonnie_

 **_kang yeosang  
_ ** _oh really?  
i didn’t know that_

 **_choi san  
_ ** _yes u did_

 **_kang yeosang  
_ ** _yes i did  
out in a sec_

 **_choi san  
_ ** _< 3_

Making sure the television and any other appliances are off, Yeosang takes his daughter’s hand into his and walks to the front door, unlocking it and pulling it open. When he’s outside, he spots San’s car straight away with said person standing outside, arms open for Haewon.

“Uncle Sannie!”

“Baby Wonnie!” San mimics, the two using their nicknames for each other.

Haewon literally jumps into San’s arms and Yeosang can’t help but smile. He turns around to lock the front door before he makes his way over to his car. He unlocks it and gets Haewon’s car sear out before he closes the door and locks it again, making his way over to his best friend and daughter.

“Hey, San,” Yeosang greets San and San turns to him, grin wide and eyes crinkled from seeing Haewon.

“Hi, Yeosangie,” he says, pulling open the car’s back door for him. “I’ll buckle her in.”

The older boy nods and puts the car seat into the car before he makes his way around and gets into the passenger seat, putting on his seatbelt.

San is done a few seconds later. He places a kiss onto Haewon’s forehead before he gets back into the driver’s seat.

Yeosang turns around to face his daughter, face stern, “No taking off your seatbelt. If you do, we’ll go straight back home.”

The little girl usually takes off her seatbelt to move closer to her dad while he drives and at this point, Yeosang’s just sick of it. Haewon obviously doesn’t know how to put it back on so while looking for the closest place to pull over and panicking that something might happen to his child in the few minutes she’s not strapped, Yeosang’s sick of her antics at this point.

Haewon pouts, “I like Uncle Sannie more than you.”

The father looks over at his best friend and raises an eyebrow at him, so San turns around too.

“I’m with your dad on this, Wonnie. No Wonderland if you take off your seatbelt.”

The girl widens her eyes before whining and crossing her tiny arms over her chest, “Fine.”

“Good,” Yeosang faces the front again and as does San.

As the younger boy starts the car, he mutters, “You’ve got a really chaotic daughter.”

“Tell me about it.”

They arrive at Winter Wonderland almost half an hour later due to Friday night traffic. It takes another extra fifteen minutes to find a parking space and Haewon’s restless at this point.

“Daddy!”

Yeosang sighs, turning around, “I know, baby. We’re just parking now.”

Once San has parked the car, the older boy gets out of the car and goes around to get Haewon out, but his best friend is already on it.

“Thank you,” Yeosang murmurs tiredly as San places Haewon on the ground and takes her.

San smiles and shakes his head, telling him it’s nothing.

They make their way to the entrance and San insists on paying all of their entrance fees. Yeosang tries to protest, but the younger boy still takes out his card and pays for the three of them.

As they walk into the park, Yeosang mutters, “This is why I don’t like going out with you.”

San looks at him offended, but he’s still grinning, “I’m her uncle, it’s my job.”

The older boy just rolls his eyes, but thanks him nonetheless.

“Where to first, my sweet baby?” San picks Haewon up, resting her on his hip.

Haewon’s eyes are wide as she looks around the park, speechless. The park is lit up in white and blue lights, hanging from trees and lampposts. Yeosang can see a tall Christmas tree set up in the middle of the park, sparkling in the same colour lights, a silver star on the top of the tree.

“Pretty,” Haewon whispers softly, eyes flittering over everything they possibly can.

Yeosang looks on fondly, happy that his daughter is happy.

Haewon’s been begging to go to Winter Wonderland since she saw a poster advertising it on the gates outside of her school. Winter Wonderland opened at the beginning of the month, but Yeosang’s been so busy trying to finish up everything at work as Christmas approaches in a month. He was finally able to make time today.

San presses a kiss to his niece’s cheek. He’s looking at her the same way Yeosang is, “It is, isn’t it?”

Haewon looks on for a few seconds longer before she says, “Can we see the unicorns first?”

The younger boy looks confused until Yeosang clarifies, “Carousel.”

“Ah,” San nods. “Let’s go.”

The small girl's eyes widen when they get to the ‘unicorns’ and she wiggles in San’s grasp, so San puts her down. The small girl takes a step closer to the carousel, warm white lights lighting up the horses in the dark November evening.

"Who do you want to go with, Haewon-ah, Uncle Sannie or your dad?" San asks the awestruck girl.

Haewon turns around and looks between her father and San, contemplating her answer. Her eyes finally stop on Yeosang and she opens her mouth to reply but shuts it again as her gaze drifts to San.

The younger boy lets out a small laugh, "It's okay if you want your dad, Haewonie, I won't mind."

But Haewon isn't too sure with San’s response so she looks at her dad and then back at him. "Are you sure, Uncle Sannie? Don't wanna make you sad."

Yeosang looks fondly at his daughter and best friend. And it's in moments like these he feels like the luckiest person in the world having Haewon and San by his side, San and his other two hyungs by his side, supporting him and Haewon nonstop.

"I'm more than happy, my baby," San assures, bending down to place a kiss on her head.

A small smile plays on Haewon's lips and she nods, pointing at her dad, "Can you come on with me, Daddy?"

"Is that even a question?" Yeosang playfully rolls his eyes as he picks his little girl up. "Let's get in line to get tickets."

As soon as the words leave his lips, San walks ahead, saying, "I'm buying them," and when Yeosang opens his mouth to object, he adds, "Just win me a big teddy bear later to repay me."

Yeosang just smiles as his best friend gets in the line.

It's been almost an hour since the three arrived at the Wonderland and all they've done is ride the carousel, one or two other rides and play a few games at some stalls.

"You still need to win me a teddy bear," San points out, taking a sip of his drink before handing the cup to Haewon.

Yeosang sighs, taking the cup from her hands as soon as she takes a drink, "San, I told you, it's November and really cold outside, she'll fall sick."

Haewon pouts at her father, but he just shakes his head.

"Sorry, Haewonie. At least you got a few sips," San tells the small girl, patting her head softly. He takes the drink back from his best friend's outstretched hand. "My teddy bear, Yeosangie."

It's Yeosang's turn to pout now.

They've been walking around for a good ten minutes now since they stopped at the last stall, neither of the two boys or Haewon winning anything other than a small stuffed animal. The girl has about five different animals in her backpack now.

"You know I'm bad at those games, San."

He grins, "I know, that's why I like watching you; I like watching you fail."

Yeosang raises an eyebrow at his best friend, "Oh, how nice of you," and San just winks at him.

They end up at a food stall a few minutes later and the dad tells San he’ll treat him to food instead and the younger boy agrees so they line up.

Yeosang reads off the menu hung up above the stall and then turns to his best friend, “What do you want?”

San’s eyes are focused on the menu before he decides, “A hotdog, please.”

The older boy nods before looking down at his daughter. “What about you, sweetheart?”

“Chips,” Haewon decides after a few seconds of pondering.

“Okay,” Yeosang tells her. “You want a hotdog, too?”

The girl shakes her head, “No, thank you, Daddy.”

Yeosang smiles before nodding at her.

It takes a few minutes to get to the front of the queue, the Wonderland being so busy since it’s a Friday. When they’re finally at the front, Yeosang tells his daughter to stay beside him before he tells the person at the stall their order, ordering two hotdogs and a medium portion of chips.

Yeosang pays and the person who took his order tells him to stand at the side while they get the food ready.

“Daddy,” Haewon says urgently, tugging at her dad’s sleeve. “Uncle Sannie.”

Yeosang frowns and looks down at the small girl, “What’s wrong?”

San bends down and picks her up, “What’s up, baby?”

Haewon’s eyes don’t leave what she’s looking at for a second, not even when San picked her up. She points to where she’s focused, “Daddy, Uncle Sannie, the girl, she’s not with her daddy and she’s crying.”

Yeosang and San’s eyes follow to where she points. There’s a small girl, no older than Haewon’s age by the looks of it, standing alone, tears falling down her face. No one stops to help the girl. Some gazes linger on the her, but no one stops, too busy with their own friends and family. The people continue walking, avoiding her if she’s in the way of their path.

The father’s heart clenches.

“You guys get the food,” Yeosang says suddenly. “Let me help her find her parents or take her to security.”

San nods, arms tightening around Haewon almost instinctively.

Yeosang makes his way to the girl who hasn’t moved at all since he noticed her. He weaves between the crowds of people, eyes not leaving the small girl until he’s beside her.

He slowly bends down to her height before talking, “Hey, sweetheart. Where’s your mummy or daddy?”

The girl startles, not expecting someone to talk to her and looks down quickly. She starts crying harder, hiccupping, her small body shaking.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright. I’ll help you find them. Who are we looking for, baby?” The boy makes sure to keep his distance in case the girl gets to frightened and tries to get away, getting lost once again.

She slowly looks up when she hears the hopeful words. Her eyes are full of tears as she whispers shakily, “My daddy.”

Yeosang freezes when her eyes meet his and he doesn’t know what to say. The small girl looks exactly like Haewon’s mother, features identical and he’s at a loss for words. He opens and closes his mouth, no words coming out as tears fill his own eyes.

“Daddy,” The girl cries out softly, looking around, hoping to find her dad and this snaps Yeosang back to reality as he quickly rubs his eyes, wiping away any tears that were brimming.

“Okay, okay,” Yeosang clears his throat as he places his hands on her arms lightly, looking around slightly. “Where were you when you lost your daddy?”

She’s still hiccupping, trying to get her words out and she says, “H-Horsies.”

Yeosang’s mind is blank for a second before he realises; carousel. The carousel is close by and the dad knows that easiest way to find the girl’s dad would be to stay beside the ride. He decides to take her there and stay with her for ten minutes before ultimately taking her to security if they can’t find her dad.

“Let’s go,” Yeosang smiles at the girl softly, holding out his hand.

She looks wary but ends up holding his hand and they go to the carousel.

Almost as soon as they arrive, Yeosang hears a loud shout of, “Sooah!”

This causes the girl to look around frantically, looking for the source of the shout, “Daddy?” There’s a shakiness to her voice.

Suddenly, Yeosang feels himself being pulled back harshly, coming face-to-face with a young man.

“Daddy!” Sooah, Yeosang assumes, cries out as she runs to the man, clinging to his legs.

The man bends down and picks up his daughter, hugging her tightly as he kisses all over her face with murmurs of her name.

Yeosang smiles, but it’s quickly wiped off.

“What the fuck were you doing with my daughter?”

Yeosang’s eyes widen, surprised at the accusation and is unable to form a sentence to explain himself, “W—What? I saw she was alo—”

The boy is cut off by a yell of, “Daddy!”

Yeosang sees his daughter running to him with San behind her, calling her name as he tries to match her speed with all the food in his hands.

The dad automatically bends down and Haewon runs into his arms. She squeals as he kisses her hair before standing back up with her.

Upon seeing this, Sooah’s dad’s eyes soften, the anger in his eyes evaporating completely.

“You found him!” Haewon exclaims when she sees the lost girl in the arms of her dad.

Yeosang nods, “Uh-huh. You did well, baby, telling Daddy when you saw her.”

Haewon flushes at the praise, hiding her face in her dad’s neck.

“Uh...” the man suddenly speaks up, looking between Yeosang and Haewon. “Thank you for finding my daughter. And sorry for, uh, accusing you.”

Sooah looks at Yeosang, her eyes crinkling as she smiles. His heart stops again, images of Haewon’s mother flashing in his head. He blinks a few times to get rid of them.

“Thank you for helping me find Daddy,” she says, softly.

Yeosang wants to ignore the girl’s father, still at a loss for words from the accusation, but he knows he would do the same if he saw a stranger with Haewon.

“It’s no problem, Sooah-yah,” Yeosang, then, looks at her dad, offering a slight smile. “And it’s okay, I would probably act the same.”

Sooah’s dad looks relieved at Yeosang’s words and nods, thanking him again before turning around and disappearing into the crowd, arms tight around his daughter.

Yeosang, San and Haewon are all quiet for a few seconds, neither one of them saying anything, the sounds of the Wonderland in the background.

San is the first one to speak, walking over to stand beside Yeosang, “What was that about?”

Yeosang looks over at his best friend, “He thought I took his daughter.”

“What?” San almost yells, eyes wide. “You should’ve punched him.”

The older boy is about to reply, but his daughter beats him to it, “Hitting is bad,” she says matter-of-factly, tiredness seeping into her voice and Yeosang grins.

The younger boy looks at his niece and then at her dad, before looking back at her, “Of course. Sorry, Wonnie.”

“I would’ve been the same if I saw a stranger with Haewon. The panic of losing her wouldn’t have let me think rationally.”

“That’s true,” San thinks about it, before nodding. His arms are in front of him, still holding the food.

Yeosang takes a hotdog and the chips, “Thanks for getting the food, San-ah.”

The younger boy shakes his head, putting his now free hand down as he takes a bite into his hotdog.

Haewon lifts her head from her father’s shoulder when she sees her chips and reaches out for them with both hands. Yeosang hands her the food before hoisting her higher on his hip.

“You’re coming back to mine, right?” Yeosang asks, adding on, “Or are you just dropping us off?”

“Yeah, I’m coming to yours,” San decides after a few seconds of thinking. “Let’s go back now, it’s almost half seven, and Haewon is sleepy.”

“Am not!” The small girl says urgently, but her eyes are droopy.

Yeosang nods as he bites into his hotdog, moving to make his way to the exit of the park and San follows.

Haewon doesn’t protest.

They get back to Yeosang’s house at almost quarter past eight. San helps Yeosang with a sleepy Haewon as the dad puts Haewon’s car seat back into his car.

When Yeosang gets to the front door and unlocks it, San walks inside with Haewon first, the older boy right behind him.

As Yeosang closes and locks the door behind him, his best friend puts Haewon down on the sofa and starts taking off her shoes, bag and coat, but Haewon whines, not pleased at being disturbed while she tries to sleep.

“Okay, it’s bath time and then bed for you, baby,” Haewon had most of her chips and some of her dad’s hotdog, almost half, so Yeosang decides that’s her dinner done.

This seems to wake the little girl up because her brown eyes widen, and she shakes her head desperately, “No, Daddy, sleepy.”

The dad starts taking of his own coat and shoes as he says, “You’ve been at school and Winter Wonderland today, Won, you need to have a bath.”

Haewon looks over at San for help, her eyes pleading. The latter presses a kiss to her forehead before he turns to the older boy, “You can always bathe her tomorrow morning.”

Yeosang raises an eyebrow at his best friend and tilts his head, sighing.

The younger boy rolls his eyes and looks at his niece again, “Daddy doesn’t listen to me.”

That sets Haewon off and she starts crying loudly, displeased that no one’s listening to her, but Yeosang needs to keep her in her routine, or she’ll get too used to having her way.

San helps Yeosang with bathing the little girl and getting her to bed, which takes double the time because of her tantrum. Haewon’s finally calm when she’s dressed in her pyjamas and in bed. She falls asleep almost instantly.

Yeosang gently runs his fingers through her hair before leaning down to kiss her forehead, telling her he loves her and goodnight. San also presses a kiss to her forehead before both boys make their way downstairs.

“Do you want tea or anything?” San asks, making his way into the kitchen.

Yeosang frowns, following him, “I should be offering you tea, it’s my house.”

San shrugs, busying himself with getting the things he needs out of the cupboards. He turns around, “I basically live here too. So, tea? Coffee? Hot chocolate?”

“Hot chocolate, please.”

While his best friend is occupied with making their hot drinks, Yeosang sits down at the kitchen table and rests his cheek against his hand as he thinks about the one thought that hasn’t left his mind since he helped the girl, Sooah, find her dad.

Sooah looked so much like Eunkyung, his daughter’s mother and he can’t shake off a weird feeling he has. Her face held almost the exact same soft features of Eunkyung’s face. His own daughter doesn’t even look like her mother or even himself.

The father is snapped out of his thoughts when San places a mug full of warm hot chocolate in front of him. He jumps a little, not expecting it.

As San takes a seat beside Yeosang with his tea, he asks, “What were you thinking about so deeply that you got scared of hot chocolate?”

“Uh,” Yeosang looks at his best friend, pulling his mug closer to him, wrapping his hands around it, the warmth seeping into him. “It’s nothing.”

“You can tell me,” the younger boy frowns. “Is it about the girl’s father being rude?”

He shakes his head, taking a sip of the hot chocolate.

“What is it, Yeo?” There’s concern lacing San’s voice.

“It’s stupid.”

“If it’s bothering you, it’s not stupid. It seems like it’s making you question your whole existence. Tell me.”

Yeosang sighs heavily before placing his mug down, “Um, you know the girl? The one that was lost?”

San nods.

“Uh, she, um...” the older boy pauses as he looks for the words to string together. “She looked so much like Eunkyung and now I feel weird. I don’t know, I just can’t stop thinking about it.”

The younger boy is quiet for a few seconds and Yeosang is about to open his mouth to tell him that he’s just being stupid, and that San should just forget about it, but the latter speaks up before he can.

“You miss Eunkyung, Sangie, that’s normal,” San reaches over to put his hand over the older boy’s. “You loved her so much and she’s Haewon’s mother, it’d be bad if you didn’t feel weird.”

“I still love her, Sannie. I miss her so much,” a tear slips from Yeosang’s eyes and San squeezes his hand gently.

“I know, Yeosangie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! this fic has been in my fic folder for so so long.
> 
> it was originally a bts fic but ive been more into writing ateez fics lately so i decided to change it into woosang. if there are any mistakes, it could be due to the fact that i had to edit it from a bts fic into an ateez one so i apologise for that!
> 
> also, this fic isnt really going to drag out and it already jumps into the main plot next chapter.
> 
> i hope you liked the first chapter! thank you for reading! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **disclaimer:** before you start this chapter, i want to say that i've read a lot of switched at birth articles and so on and i want to make this story as realistic as possible, but i decided to go with what makes more sense for me to write. it might be slightly unrealistic, im not sure, but if you wont like that, i suggest you stop reading this fic.
> 
> if you decide to carry on giving this fic a chance, thank you so much.

“Oh, my God!” Yeosang almost falls out of his bed when he wakes up to Haewon’s face peering down at him. “Haewon, what are you _doing?_ ”

The girl giggles, climbing on top of her dad’s stomach, and Yeosang grabs her arms to steady her.

“I was looking at you,” she grins.

“Well, obviously,” Yeosang’s heart is still racing, his breathing uneven. “But _why?_ ”

“I don’t know,” Haewon shrugs, laying down onto her dad’s chest. “I woke up and couldn’t sleep again so I came here, but you were asleep.”

The dad turns his head to look at his bedside clock on his nightstand. It read half seven. They’re okay for time to get to Haewon’s school without being late.

“What time did you wake up?”

“Seven zero eight,” the girl informs her dad.

_7:08._

“You’ve been watching me for twenty minutes?”

“Nuh-uh,” the girl shakes her head and clarifies. “I came here and tried to sleep for a bit, but I couldn’t. I only looked at you for seconds, not minutes.”

“Alright,” Yeosang wraps an arm around Haewon as he sits up, so she doesn’t fall. “Go brush your teeth, Daddy will start making breakfast.”

The girl nods and climbs off her dad, running out of the room.

The boy rubs at his eyes before he stands up, making his way out of his room and downstairs.

He usually makes breakfast for Haewon while she washes up, which she’s finally able to do alone, and then he washes up while she eats. Yeosang doesn’t eat though, feeling sick when he eats so early in the morning. He mostly eats at work.

He goes over to the cupboard that holds the bowls and brings out Haewon’s plastic pink one. He pours some milk in the bowl before heating it up in the microwave since his daughter likes her milk warm. He pours some Coco Pops into the milk when it’s finally out of the microwave.

Haewon comes downstairs five minutes later, her hair messy, but her teeth and face clean. Yeosang helps her up onto the chair and tells her to eat carefully while he washes up. He leaves her a glass of water before he’s making his way upstairs.

Once Yeosang has brushed his teeth and washed his face, having showered the night before, he makes his way into Haewon’s room and makes her bed, opening the curtains. He, then, walks over to her wardrobe and pulls out some clothes for her, also leaving her schoolbag on her bed.

Finally, Yeosang gets dressed, his work dress code being a suit. While he’s getting dressed, he hears Haewon come upstairs and go into her room. She always dresses herself while Yeosang just straightens out whatever she didn’t do correctly.

She walks into her dad’s room with her schoolbag a few minutes later.

“Done!” She announces.

Yeosang looks over at her and grins, seeing half of her top being tucked into her jeans and her hoodie not zipped up properly. He kneels down in front of her and helps her with the things she couldn’t do.

Yeosang, having some of her hair accessories stored in his room drawer, does her hair, too, into two ponytails.

“Is your bag packed?” Yeosang asks his daughter as he starts rushing around to gather the things he needs for work.

Haewon is putting her pack of crayons into her bag as she replies, “Think so.”

Yeosang sighs when she sees his daughter struggling with zipping up her bag, so he abandons his own bag to go help her. He sits down across from her on the floor of his bedroom. Making sure she has everything for school, Yeosang zips up the bag for her.

The small girl grins, taking the bag from her father’s outstretched hands, “Thanks, Daddy!” She leans over, placing a wet kiss on his cheek and he does the same to her, smiling softly.

“Okay, up, up, up,” Yeosang stands up, pulling his daughter up with him. “We’ll be late if we don’t leave now.”

Haewon nods and leaves the room, going downstairs. Yeosang grabs his bag and closes it before following her down. He goes straight into the kitchen to take out their lunches he prepared the night before and he places Haewon’s into her lunch bag and his into his bag. As he makes his way into the living room, he grabs their coats.

“Come here, baby.”

Haewon does as she’s told, and Yeosang helps her get her coat on. He pulls out her hat and gloves from the pocket of her coat and puts them on the girl, too before handing her lunch bag over.

Once Yeosang has his outerwear on as well, he grabs his daughter’s hand and they leave the house.

Yeosang takes his daughter’s schoolbag and lunch bag and puts it on the seat beside her car seat once he has the car door open. He reaches down to pick Haewon up and she puts her arms up. Once Yeosang’s gotten Haewon strapped in her car seat, he goes over the rules again with her.

“Yes, Daddy,” Haewon whines when her dad asks her to repeat what he just said. “No taking off my seatbelt cos it’s dangerous and we’ll be late for school.”

Yeosang smiles and kisses her head, “Good girl.”

The dad shuts the car door and gets into the driver’s seat. Starting the car, he begins on their way to Haewon’s school.

“Hi, Mrs. Seo!” Haewon grins when she and Yeosang get to the entrance of her classroom.

Haewon’s teacher smiles, “Hello, Haewon. Hello, Mr. Kang.”

Yeosang greets her back before pulling Haewon aside to give space to other children entering the classroom and kneels down in front of his daughter.

“Be good, Haewon-ah,” Yeosang puts his hands on the girl’s arms. “Daddy will see you later, okay? Have a good day, baby.” He leans forward to press a kiss to her forehead and Haewon smiles, kissing her dad’s cheek before he moves away.

“I will, Daddy!”

With one more kiss to her cheek, Haewon runs into her classroom. When the girl is out of sight, Yeosang bids his daughter’s teacher goodbye and walks back to his car parked outside the school gates. He gets in and starts the car, beginning on his journey to work.

It takes him another fifteen minutes to get there which is fine since he starts at nine and he still has five minutes to get to his boss’ office.

He gets there with a minute to spare and takes a seat, pulling everything he needs for work out, which just seems to be his notebook since he had everything else on his desk. As, he starts up his computer and as it loads, his eyes drift over to the picture of him and Haewon he has framed, sitting on his desk.

Yeosang frowns as he stares at it. In the picture is wide-smiled Haewon, eyes crinkling as she hugs her father.

Haewon looks nothing like him or Eunkyung.

He’s never really thought into that deeply, the thought sometimes crossing his mind as Haewon grew older, but not that much. Though, since seeing Sooah, the father is just confused.

How can a complete stranger look more like Eunkyung than her own daughter?

Yeosang is snapped out of his thoughts by the door of his boss’ office opening.

“Ah, Mr. Kang, you’re here,” his boss walks forward and places a pile of files on his desk. “Can you look through these and separate them by importance? I need to know which ones to read and sign first.”

“Of course, Sir,” Yeosang smiles and nods.

His boss pats him on the shoulder before walking back into his office.

It takes Yeosang an hour to sort through the files, but once he’s finally done, he places them into Mr. Han, his boss’ office. He still has a few more odd jobs to do, mostly admin, before Mr. Han gets out of his meeting so Yeosang decides it’s fine if he gets himself a cup of coffee.

The boy used to hate coffee, but having an energetic four-year-old and a job that has so many individual tasks, he realised how much caffeine actually helped him.

He’s stirring some sugar into his mug to make it less bitter when his phone starts buzzing in his pocket.

His boss understands how important it is for Yeosang to have access to his phone, having two children himself, so he’s allowed to answer calls when necessary.

Yeosang heart stops for a second before he quickly pulls out his phone and moves to the corner of the break room. He’s already at work so he knows the call must be about Haewon, possibly from her school.

What has she gotten herself into?

He sighs in relief when he sees ‘Hospital’ written on the screen of his phone, but starts panicking when he realises, he wasn’t waiting on a call from the hospital. Neither him nor Haewon have had any tests done recently.

He answers the call, “Hello?”

“ _Hello, am I speaking to Kang Yeosang?_ ” A male voice speaks into the phone.

Yeosang’s heart is beating out of his chest and he barely gets out a, “This is he.”

“ _Hello, Mr. Kang,_ ” the voice pauses. “ _This is Dr. Jo, I’m calling about Kang Haewon._ ”

This causes the boy to finally give in to his panic.

“What’s wrong?” There’s an audible shakiness to Yeosang’s voice.

The doctor must have noticed this because he replies, “ _Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Kang, nothing is wrong with your daughter. I was calling because I had something to discuss with you._ ”

This doesn’t ease Yeosang’s mind, “Are you sure?”

“ _Yes, please don’t worry,_ ” the doctor assures. “ _But I was wondering if you could come into the hospital_.”

“What would you like to discuss?”

“ _Well, I assure you there’s nothing wrong with Haewon, but I would like to discuss something about her._ ”

Yeosang’s heart rate picks up again and he swallows, he doesn’t feel at ease, “Sure. What time should I come in?”

“ _Is 4pm okay for you?_ ”

The dad pauses.

He picks Haewon up at three and he can get her fed before getting to the hospital.

“Four is fine, Dr. Jo.”

“ _That’s great,_ ” Dr. Jo speaks, but there’s a nervousness to his voice. “ _Please come to the maternity ward and ask for me at the front desk, they’ll lead you to my room._ ”

When Yeosang finally hangs up, he walks over to his coffee and picks it up, walking as fast as he could to his desk without spilling anything.

The call from the hospital has Yeosang restless and even though he was assured Haewon is fine, he’s still not at ease. Haewon has had no appointments or tests done recently, so even if there is something wrong with her, how would the hospital even know?

The thought relaxes Yeosang a little and he thinks the doctor must have wanted to discuss a completely different matter.

Though, he does feel a little uneasy for the rest of the day.

Yeosang’s job allowed him to get off work at half two in the afternoon since it takes him about half an hour to get to Haewon’s school. His boss has provided him with flexible hours while still getting paid enough to survive.

Yeosang likes his boss.

The father gets to the school with a few minutes to spare so he’s standing outside in the playground with a few other parents as he waits.

Some of the parents greet him and he smiles at them. They ask how he is, how Haewon is, but the father just gives simple and short replies. He’s not rude, but he’s not very talkative either.

Yeosang’s social skills have evaporated completely since he had Haewon and he tries to stay away from social interaction as much as possible. He’s spent most of his time with Haewon, barely having any social interaction outside of hanging out with San, Seonghwa and Hongjoong.

He also feels awkward, being a single dad, surrounded by mostly mothers, with a few dads here and there, but most of them are married to or with their child’s mother.

Most of the parents just pity him since he has to raise Haewon alone.

Yeosang is definitely not ashamed to be a single dad, he feels proud that he’s been able to raise Haewon without Haewon’s mother, he just feels out of place because he knows everyone pities him.

Yeosang is snapped out of his thoughts when the door to Haewon’s classroom opens exactly at three.

A few other children’s names are called out by the teacher before she calls Haewon’s name to inform her that her dad is here.

The little girl comes running out, a backpack strap falling off her shoulder, her bag bouncing on her back with every step, and she runs into Yeosang’s arms as soon as he bends down.

The father kisses his daughter’s forehead before taking her lunch bag out of her grasp and uses his other hand to grab hers. They start walking to the car.

“How was school, baby?” Yeosang asks.

“I had fun!” Haewon exclaims. “We made pots using clay, we read a story, we had playtime and I wanted to play with the water, but we’re not allowed since it’s cold, but I played with everyone else.”

“Hm, sounds like you had fun.”

Haewon frowns and it’s evident in her voice, “We also had to learn to say some hard words. You have to help me learn them, Daddy, the paper is in my bag.”

“We’ll do them tonight,” Yeosang says as he helps his daughter into the car when they reach it.

The girl protests at that, but she knows her dad won’t give in.

“Words are ugly,” Haewon mutters when Yeosang’s finally in the car.

“Hey,” the boy turns to face his daughter. “What did I tell you about using that word?”

She sighs before saying, “Sorry. Nothing is ugly.”

“Good girl,” Yeosang reaches over to lightly pinch Haewon’s cheek, rosy from the cold wind. “We have to go somewhere in an hour, so we’ll eat out. What do you wanna eat?”

Usually Haewon would be excited at the fact that they get to eat out and suggest ice cream instead of something suitable to be an after-school snack, but this time she’s confused about the fact they need to go somewhere.

“Where?”

“Hospital. Dr. Jo wants to see us.” Yeosang informs his daughter.

Haewon opens her mouth in an ‘oh’ way and nods, “Can we get ice cream?”

_There it is._

Haewon finally decides on Subway when Yeosang once again, tells her that ice cream isn’t a suitable snack, especially in winter.

They’re in the line, deciding what sandwich to get, but the small girl just seems to be interested in getting a cookie, so Yeosang decides for them. He gets them a six-inch sub and chooses the filling and toppings, before requesting it to be cut in half so he and his daughter can share since this is a snack rather than a meal.

“Anything else?” The server asks as he wraps their sandwich up.

“Cookie!” Haewon exclaims and the server smiles, looking at Yeosang.

The dad looks down at his daughter, “Which one?”

“Smarties, please.”

The server nods and places a cookie into a wrapper and passes it to Haewon.

Yeosang asks for a Fruit Shoot instead of a fizzy drink and pays when the server informs him of their total.

When he’s done paying, he takes their food and Haewon’s hand, leading them to an empty table. He helps Haewon sit down and then sits down himself, unwrapping the sandwich. Haewon starts taking her cookie out and Yeosang gives her a stern look.

She sighs, slipping the cookie back into the wrapper, “Sorry.”

Haewon talks animatedly about her day at school, this time more in detail as they eat. Yeosang listens to her carefully, always interested in what she did at school.

“Mrs. Seo said we’re going to have a new student soon,” Haewon informs her dad, finally being able to eat her cookie. “But she didn’t tell us if it’s a girl or boy.”

Yeosang leans over to wipe off the crumbs from the corner of his daughter’s lips with a tissue.

He hums, “Probably a girl. Remember Saehyun left your class.”

Haewon’s eyes widen, “Oh, yeah. You’re smart, Daddy.”

A soft laugh escapes Yeosang’s lips, “Thanks, baby.”

“You’re welcome, Daddy!” The girl breaks off a piece of her cookie and hands it to her dad. “Daddy, I wanna be friends with the new student.”

Yeosang thanks Haewon as he takes the piece from her hand, “You can, you’re great at making friends.”

Haewon grins.

“Hi, we’re here to see Dr. Jo.” Yeosang says to the lady at the desk in the maternity ward.

She looks up and nods, “Name?”

“Kang Yeosang.”

“Room 109,” the lady looks up and points down the hall. “Should be fairly easy to find.”

Yeosang smiles and thanks her, before grabbing Haewon’s hand again and walking down the hall.

Room 109 _is_ easy to find, and Yeosang takes a deep breath before knocking.

“Come in,” Dr. Jo’s voice sounds.

Yeosang pushes the door open and walks in with Haewon, but he freezes when he sees people he recognises sitting in front of Dr. Jo.

_The man from Winter Wonderland._

_Sooah._

It’s clearer now, the afternoon sun shining in through the window of the room. He sees Sooah’s face clearly, the girl sitting in her father’s lap. More clearly than the Friday before and his breath catches in his throat.

Sooah looks nearly _identical_ to Eunkyung, and Yeosang suddenly has a bad feeling.

He doesn’t want to be here anymore. He has the urge to pull Haewon out of the room and leave the hospital. He wants to leave and not come back. He doesn’t want to hear what Dr. Jo has to say.

Yeosang catches the eye of the other father and his eyes also widen, clearly recognising him.

He quickly looks away as Yeosang slowly walks to the spare seat, even though his gut is telling him to leave right now. He sits down cautiously, pulling Haewon into his lap.

Haewon, usually a social child and the complete opposite of her father, shies away from the people sat beside them, hiding her face into her dad’s chest. Yeosang wraps his arms around her instinctively and protectively.

Dr. Jo looks at both of them and sighs before picking up the phone.

“Hi, Nurse Kim,” he speaks into it. “They’re here. Can you come in here?”

The doctor puts the phone down and waits. The nurse comes in a few seconds later and stands at the door.

“Mr. Jung, Mr. Kang, I think it’ll be better to discuss what we have to alone,” his eyes flicker to Haewon and then Sooah. “Can the girls go with the nurse?”

Haewon clearly hears this and whines softly, trying to hide further into her father’s chest. Sooah just looks up at hers.

“The girls really shouldn’t be here. Even if they don’t understand, it’s better if they’re not,” the doctor urges, a tone of desperation in his voice.

Yeosang feels like he knows what is coming so he leans down.

“Haewonie, can you go with the nurse for a few minutes? Daddy will come right out after I talk with the doctor.”

“No,” Haewon mumbles, shaking her head in her father’s chest.

Yeosang sighs.

“Daddy will be out in a few minutes, okay, baby?” The other man, _Mr. Jung_ , speaks to his child.

Sooah nods as her dad places a kiss on her hair. He helps her down and the nurse holds out a hand for her. Sooah walks up to her and takes her hand.

“Haewon-ah, look,” Yeosang points at the nurse and Sooah, and his daughter slowly looks up. “You can make a new friend.”

Haewon looks at her dad and then at Sooah, before looking back at her dad again. She’s hesitant.

“You love making new friends.”

Haewon looks at Sooah again before nodding, starting to crawl out of her dad’s lap. Yeosang helps her and she walks over to the nurse, grabbing her free, outstretched hand.

“Thank you, Nurse Kim,” Dr. Jo nods at her as she leaves the room with the girls.

“What’s this about?” The man from Winter Wonderland is first to speak.

Yeosang looks over at Dr. Jo as he frowns, turning his chair from his computer to completely look at the two fathers.

“Mr. Jung,” he starts, seriousness tinges his voice. “We got the blood test results for Sooah back and—”

The father cuts him off, “I’m sorry, but why is he here to hear _my_ daughter’s results?” He points at Yeosang and then turns to face him. “No offence.”

“None taken,” Yeosang agrees. “Privacy is important.”

The doctor sighs again, but carries on, “Nothing was found in her blood, that’s not what we’re here to discuss.”

The uneasy feeling is back, and Yeosang feels knots in his stomach. He feels like he _knows_ what’s going to be said.

“Mr. Jung, Mr. Kang, you were here together almost five years ago in the labour ward together while your daughters’ mothers gave birth,” Dr. Jo says slowly. “More specifically, in the same room.”

Yeosang’s eyebrows furrow. He remembers there was another couple in the room Eunkyung gave birth. It was two patients per room, separated by a curtain. What are the odds he’d meet the person he was in the room with?

But that’s not the thought that’s on his mind and it seems to be the same with the other dad.

“What do you mean?” Yeosang questions at the same time the other father says, “What’s this about?”

“Mr. Jung, Sooah’s blood didn’t match the blood on her medical records,” the doctor pauses, letting what he said sink in, but he doesn’t allow the fathers to question him. “It matched Haewon’s.”

Both dads don’t say anything, frozen, waiting for clearer confirmation.

Yeosang’s eyes widen.

_He knows where this is going._

“Mr. Jung, Mr. Kang, your daughters were switched at birth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was an early update because i've had two chapters of this fic written since like last year. updates will be slower now as i write them, but everything is planned out completely unless i add filler chapters, so hopefully updates wont take that much longer.
> 
> thank you for reading! <3


	3. Chapter 3

“What did you just say?” Sooah’s dad is the first to speak. His words come out through gritted teeth, angry and shocked.

Yeosang just opens and then closes his mouth, at a loss for words, not knowing what to say. What do you even say in a situation like this? How does a situation like this even occur?

“I know this is hard to believe,” Dr. Jo seems nervous as he speaks, his words slightly stuttered. “But the hospital made a mistake. They got confused because you both had girls around the same time so everyone was rushing in and out with the babies. They didn't put on their hospital bands straight away. They should’ve, but they didn't.”

Yeosang still doesn't speak, his thoughts drifting to Haewon, to his precious daughter.

This can't be right. Haewon is his daughter. Haewon is his baby. He’s taken care of her since birth, all alone. Haewon is _his_.

“I think you're mistaken,” the blond-haired boy finally says, looking up at the doctor and all he says is, “Haewon is my daughter.” Yeosang finally gets up, ready to leave. He’s ready to just get his daughter and go home.

“Mr. Kang, please,” Dr. Jo’s voice is desperate and Yeosang doesn't know why he’s desperate, it’s not his life that has been flipped upside down. It makes Yeosang snap.

“Please what, Dr. Jo?” He almost yells. “You’re telling me my daughter isn't my daughter and you expect me to believe that? Haewon is _mine_.”

The room is silent and the doctor just looks at Yeosang, silently pleading with him to understand what happened. Yeosang just turns away and walks to the door.

“Mr—Mr. Kang?” It’s not the doctor who speaks, it’s Sooah’s father. “Can we just hear everything out, please? I know this is all confusing, I’m in the same position as you, but I just want to understand everything. Please?”

Yeosang’s hand is on the door handle. He can just open the door and leave with Haewon. He can forget any of this happened and go home with his daughter. Go home and give his daughter a bath, help her with her homework, make her dinner. Go back to normal.

But the truth is, he _can’t_.

The blond-haired boy’s hand tightens around the handle, knuckles turning white with how hard he’s holding it. Yeosang closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He turns around and goes back to his seat, avoiding the doctor’s and Sooah’s dad’s eyes.

Sooah’s dad. The man sat beside him is Sooah’s dad and he’s Haewon’s dad.

The boy nods to himself. He’s Haewon’s dad.

“Are you sure about this?” Sooah’s dad asks, his voice tinged with confusion.

The doctor only nods.

“But what do you mean they were switched?” The harsh tone is back in the other dad’s voice. “How? How can a hospital mess up that badly?”

“All I can do is apologise for that,” the doctor says, head bowed.

“ _Apologise?_ ” Yeosang seethes, still not meeting the doctor’s eyes. He knows he’ll do something he regrets if he does. “You _switched_ our daughters all those years ago and you think an apology will fix it?”

“Mr. Kang—”

“Shut the fuck up!” Yeosang finally meets the doctor’s eyes and they widen at his outburst.

Usually a patient would be escorted out when insulting a doctor, but considering the circumstances, considering the hospital _switched_ two babies all those years ago, Yeosang’s outburst is valid.

“You can either decide to switch the girls back or you can formally adopt the child you are raising now,” the doctor starts. “But I ask you, please don’t sue the hospital.”

Yeosang gets it now. He understands why the doctor is so nervous and desperate. He’s afraid he and Sooah’s dad will sue the hospital. Suing the hospital leads to a bad reputation which leads to the hospital closing down. That’s all they care about. They don’t care that two people just had a bombshell dropped on them due to the carelessness of the very hospital.

“ _Fuck you_ ,” the blond-haired boy says through gritted teeth, standing up abruptly, his chair falling to the floor. “Haewon is _mine_.”

Yeosang moves to the door, not looking back at the doctor while the doctor desperately calls his name, having not gotten confirmation that the boy would not move to sue the hospital.

Yeosang also hears Sooah’s dad call him, but he ignores him too, hand on the door, pulling it open. He quickly runs down the hall and through a door leading to the staircase as he breathes heavily, tears brimming his eyes, but he rubs them away harshly.

How could Haewon not be his?

Haewon is his. She's his and Eunkyung’s.

Yeosang jumps when a hand grabs his shoulder. He turns around quickly, startled.

“Mr. Kang,” it’s Sooah’s dad. He pauses to catch his breath, having run after Yeosang, before he speaks again, “Mr. Kang, I...” the dad trails off, dropping his hand from Yeosang’s shoulder and looking towards the floor at his feet.

“What is it?” Yeosang’s voice is harsh. He knows that Sooah’s dad is just as hurt as him, but he can’t help it, his world just came crashing down.

However, the tone of the blond-haired boy causes Sooah’s dad to step back slightly, fumbling for his words as he looks back up. “Mr. Kang, we’re in the same boat. We’ve both just been told something that changes everything. Shouldn’t we talk about this?”

“Talk about what?” Yeosang says through gritted teeth. “Haewon is _my_ daughter.”

“And Sooah is mine, but we need to think about what we do from now.”

The blond-haired boy’s eyes widen and he stutters out, “A—Are you saying we should switch back?”

“What? No!” Sooah’s dad looks offended and hurt, but more hurt. “I just said Sooah is my daughter, but—”

“Okay, so let’s leave it at that. Haewon is mine and Sooah is yours. Let’s pretend nothing ever happened and go back to living our lives,” Yeosang reaches for the handle of the door to go back to get his daughter, but Sooah’s dad stops him.

“Mr. Kang, yes, Sooah is my daughter, I raised her, but...” the dark-haired boy pauses. “I want to get to know Haewon.”

Not thinking it was possible, Yeosang’s world falls apart even more when he hears those words.

Yeosang just wants to go home with Haewon and forget today even happened. How does he do that when Haewon’s biological father wants to be in her life?

Haewon is _his_.

Haewon is the last thing he has left of Eunkyung.

Or so he thought.

“No,” Yeosang starts slowly, turning to look Sooah’s dad in the eye. “You will not be around _my_ daughter.”

Yeosang doesn't allow the dark-haired boy to say anything else and pulls open the door and steps back into the brightly lit hallway. He makes his way back to the waiting room where Haewon and Sooah are with the nurse, colouring.

He’s going to go home with _his_ daughter and have a good evening.

“Haewon!” He calls out.

Haewon looks up quickly and when she sees her dad, she drops her crayon and runs over to him, “Daddy!”

Yeosang bends down to pick her up and she quickly buries her face in his neck. The blond-haired boy tightens his grip around the girl slightly, afraid that if he doesn’t, she’ll disappear.

Yeosang turns to leave, but his eye catches the other little girl still at the table, eyes looking around the room for her own father. Her eyes brighten when she sees him walking down the hall towards her and she does the same as Haewon, dropping her crayon and running to him.

“Hi, baby,” Mr. Jung speaks, his voice soft as he picks the girl up.

The blond-haired boy looks on a little long and he averts his gaze, turning away when Sooah’s dad looks at him and Haewon. He’s already making his way down the hall when the dark-haired boy calls out to him.

“Mr. Kang! Can we at least swap numbers?”

Yeosang ignores him and leaves the hospital.

Yeosang gets home with Haewon when it’s completely dark outside, and the small girl has fallen asleep in the car. He goes around to the back seat of the car and pulls the door open. He doesn’t want to wake his daughter up, but he knows he needs to or she won't be able to sleep tonight.

“Haewon-ah,” the dad speaks softly to his daughter so he doesn't startle her awake. “We’re home, baby.”

Haewon whines sleepily as Yeosang unbuckles her from her car seat and picks her up, shutting the car door behind him, but not before grabbing her school bag. He keeps on murmuring things to the small girl so she doesn't fall back asleep as he makes his way to the front door of their house.

The young girl is angry about being woken up and she sits grumpily on the sofa, arms crossed once Yeosang gets them both inside.

“You need to do your homework, then eat dinner, and have a bath before sleeping, Haewon,” Yeosang sighs as Haewon huffs, turning her head away from her dad. “It’s not even bedtime anyway, it’s like six in the evening.”

Haewon doesn't respond to her dad so the blond-haired boy just helps her get out of her outerwear as she tries to avoid him, squirming.

“Why are you mad at me?” Yeosang doesn't know why it’s affecting him so much, Haewon is just someone who gets grumpy after being woken up, he’s gone through this so many times. He doesn't understand, but it still hurts.

Haewon’s eyes widen when she turns her head to look at him and she throws herself into her father’s arms, startling Yeosang, “Daddy, don't cry! I’m sorry!” The young girl reaches up to wipe his eyes, frowning.

The blond-haired boy didn't even realise he started crying and sure enough, when he reaches up to feel his cheeks, his fingers come back wet.

Why is he crying? Why is he worrying his daughter over something that occurs almost everyday?

Yeosang laughs, trying to brighten the mood, but it comes out a little wet and choked, but he speaks anyway, “You remember Daddy’s allergies. It’s not cos of you, my baby.”

The small girl pulls away to look at her dad, not convinced, “Are you sure? I’m not mad at you, Daddy,” she pouts. “Just a little sleepy. Sorry.”

“I know, Haewonie, it’s not you.”

Once Yeosang has convinced his daughter it was just his allergies, he turns on the television for her to watch to wake her up a little more before they start on school work. She has a few words to learn and it’s not her favourite thing so it’s better if they don’t start with her being in a bad mood.

The boy sits upstairs in his room while the television plays softly downstairs, one of Haewon’s favourite cartoons playing. He takes a deep breath, still trying to calm himself down from earlier, but he can’t and tears start falling again, a sob falling from his lips. He quickly covers his mouth, afraid of Haewon hearing and worrying again.

Scrambling for his phone as the tears fall silently, he pulls up a contact and presses ‘Call’.

“ _Hey, Sangie, wha—_ ”

Yeosang cuts him off, speaking through sobs, “S—San.”

“ _Yeosang?_ ” Worry laces San’s voice and there’s a rustling on the other end of the call, most likely the younger boy sitting up. “ _What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is Haewon okay?_ ”

“C—Can you come over?” That’s all Yeosang can get out.

“ _What’s wrong, Yeosang? Are you two okay?_ ” San’s voice is panicked.

“W—We’re fine. Just please come over.”

More rustling can be heard from the younger boy’s end of the call and he says, “ _I’m on my way, Yeo. Wait for me, I’m coming._ ” With that, he hangs up.

San is knocking at Yeosang’s door in ten minutes, quicker than usual and the older boy makes his way downstairs after making sure it doesn't look like he’s been crying. He can't let his daughter see him like this.

“Who is it, Daddy?” Haewon stands in the living room doorway as she waits for her dad to open the door.

Yeosang looks at her, smiling a little despite his mood, knowing she’ll be excited, “Uncle Sannie.”

Sure enough, her eyes widen and she runs to the door, standing in front of it, bouncing on her feet excitedly, “Hurry up, Daddy! Open the door!”

The blond-haired boy rolls his eyes playfully before walking over to the door, picking his daughter up before unlocking the door and pulling it open.

San stands at the doorstop, eyes frantic as he looks between both father and daughter, like he’s looking for something physically wrong.

“Uncle Sannie!” Haewon squeals, reaching for her uncle as he steps inside.

San takes her from her father’s arms and Yeosang shakes his head at him when he opens his mouth to speak so he doesn't say anything in front of the little girl. The younger understands straight away and stops himself, instead greeting Haewon cheerfully.

The father shuts the door as San walks into the living room, making sure it’s locked before he also makes his way into the living room.

They stay there for a while, San not questioning Yeosang with Haewon in the room as he plays with the girl. The older boy feels calm though, having his best friend and daughter with him after having one of the worst days of his life, his breathing having slowed down.

But half an hour later, San looks at Yeosang, nodding towards the kitchen.

Yeosang sighs and shrugs. The boy just wants to sit in the living room a little longer, not wanting to relive what happened earlier, but he knows he has to tell San.

“Haewonie, you watch your cartoons while your dad and I make dinner, okay?” San informs the girl, running his hand through her now loose hair.

She looks up at her uncle and frowns, but nods despite that, “Will you help me with my words after? It’s funner when it’s Daddy _and_ you.”

“Of course, baby,” the younger boy agrees easily, kissing the small girl on her forehead before grabbing Yeosang by the arm and pulling him into the kitchen.

“What’s _wrong_ , Yeosang?” San whispers sternly, but there's worry lacing his words, the two boys standing in the middle of the kitchen. “You can’t call me _sobbing_ and leave me in the dark.”

The older boy sighs, pulling out one of the kitchen chairs and sitting down, afraid his legs will give out beneath him. He covers his face with his hands and breathes out deeply before looking back at his best friend.

“Haewon was mad at me that I woke her up,” Yeosang finally speaks.

San’s eyebrows furrow, confused, “What? She’s always grumpy after being woken up, we know that.”

Yeosang knows that's not why he started crying, he knows, but he doesn't want to relive the actual reason.

He _can’t_.

“ _Yeosang!_ ” San hisses, now frustrated.

“Haewon isn't my daughter,” the blond-haired boy finally blurts out, his eyes filling with fresh tears.

San’s eyes widen at the words that leave his best friend’s lips and he stutters out, “W—What?”

“Haewon isn't mine,” Yeosang repeats, his voice lacking any emotion despite the tears falling from his eyes.

A mix of emotion flashes through the younger boy’s eyes; confusion, frustration, anger. He doesn't know what to say.

Yeosang has mercy on the confused boy and explains, “I went to the hospital today. They— Uh, they called me saying they needed to speak to me. That girl from the, um, Winter Wonderland, Sooah, she was there with her dad.”

San’s eyes widen in realisation.

“Sannie, she looks so much like Eunkyung,” the older boy breathes out. “I wasn’t wrong about it that night, she looks exactly like her.”

“Sooah’s your biological daughter?” The blond-haired boy doesn't need to explain anything further as San puts the pieces together.

Yeosang just nods.

The two boys sit in silence for a few minutes, the television and Haewon’s soft laughter the only sounds being heard.

“Wha— _How?_ ” The younger boy finally breaks the tense silence.

Yeosang doesn't move to wipe away his tears as they fall, he just lets them as he chokes out the rest of the explanation, “U—Uh, Sooah had blood work done and they came back as a match for Haewon,” the older boy starts, his voice shaky, but soft. “Haewon’s birth parents, and Eunkyung and I shared the same room at the labour ward. The girls were switched accidentally before they could get name bracelets on.”

Repeating the story hurts Yeosang, it makes it more real and the boy doesn't want that. He doesn't want to believe Haewon isn't his.

Anger flashes across San’s face and Yeosang notices his balled fists, “ _How_ the fuck could the hospital make a mistake like that?”

Yeosang stands up quickly, frantically covering San’s mouth with a hand, “Be quiet! I don't want Haewon to hear anything.”

The younger boy apologises from behind his best friend’s hand and the boy lowers it.

“Haewon is yours, Sangie,” San speaks after a few distressed moments, looking straight at Yeosang. “That small girl in the living room is _yours_.”

Yeosang laughs humourlessly as he closes his eyes, a fresh set of of tears falling, “Haewon _is_ my daughter, she always will be, but how do I live knowing that there’s this other little girl out there with Eunkyung's and my blood running through her veins?”

“Blood doesn't decide family,” San states seriously.

The older boy lets a small, quiet sob past his lips as San reaches for him and pulls him into a hug. Yeosang buries his face into the boy’s neck and just cries.

“I wanna forget today, Sannie,” the blond-haired boy whispers, tired.

“Then do that,” says San. “Forget today. You can pretend nothing happened and go back to living as you were before.”

“ _How?_ How, Sannie? Sooah’s dad wants to get to know his biological daughter. He wants to get to know Haewon.”

“What did he say exactly?”

“That Sooah _is_ his daughter, but he wants to get to know Haewon.”

“And?” San pulls away to look at Yeosang. “You’re Haewon’s dad. You get to decide whether you want to let him or not.”

Yeosang is pretty set on his decision of not letting Sooah’s dad meet Haewon, but a lingering thought makes him question his decision, “What if Eunkyung hates me?” The older boy whispers. “For not meeting our biological daughter? Sooah was the baby she held before she died. Sooah is her daughter.”

San looks at the blond-haired boy with sympathy, not knowing what to exactly say in this situation, but speaks up, “Sangie, you know what’s best for you and your daughter. You raised that little girl in the living room. She calls you _Daddy._ Don't live in fear. Live for your daughter.”

Yeosang looks on wearily, but despite this, says, “Haewon is _mine_ ,” Yeosang states firmly, finality lacing his words.

The younger boy smiles sadly, “Yes, she is, Sangie.”

“Daddy? Uncle Sannie?” A small voice calls from the kitchen doorway and Yeosang quickly wipes away his tears before his daughter can see, clearing his throat.

“Yeah, baby?” San speaks for him, holding his arms out for the little girl and she runs into them.

She lays her head on the boy’s shoulder as she asks, “What’s for dinner? I’m hungry.”

The older boy looks at his best friend, panicked as he looks at the time. It’s seven in the evening, when Haewon usually eats dinner and he hasn’t started making anything. He isn’t even sure what there is to make. He was supposed to go grocery shopping after the hospital visit, but nothing went to plan.

“Daddy and I couldn't find anything to make. How about pizza?” San looks at Yeosang for permission and Yeosang nods, quietly sighing in relief.

“Pizza? Really?” Haewon turns to look at her dad with wide eyes. The small girl is barely allowed outside food on a weekday, let alone twice in a day.

Yeosang nods, heart warming at the girl’s excitement, “Yeah, go help Uncle Sannie pick out what pizza you want.”

Haewon asks San to let her down and he does so, the little girl running over to her father, hugging him around his waist from where she stands, “Thank you, Daddy!"

Yeosang looks down at his daughter, reaching down to pull her up onto his lap.

Yeosang smiles softly.

Haewon is his daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is really late D:
> 
> thank you for reading! pls leave me a comment! <3


	4. Chapter 4

“Mr. Kang,” Yeosang’s boss speaks, walking out of his office into the boy’s smaller one, looking through some files in his hands as he does so.

Yeosang looks up from his computer and replies, “Yes, Sir?”

“Once you finish what you’re doing now, you can leave to pick up your daughter,” Mr. Han starts, placing down the three files he has in his hand in front of the blond. “But can you summarise these files for me into a document first thing tomorrow when you come in? I know you have a busy week already, but it won’t take too long, just a bullet-pointed summary.”

“Sure,” Yeosang looks at what’s just been placed on his desk and flips through one briefly and sure enough, it isn't too big of a job. “I’ll start on it as soon as I come in tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” his boss pats him on the back. “I know it’s your job, but you continuously save me.”

Yeosang almost laughs considering how out of it he was throughout the day today, almost messing up so many important jobs. Many of his colleagues had to help him out and he’s grateful for the help. He could barely get anything done today.

“It’s no problem, Sir,” Yeosang says instead and smiles, placing the files to the side, but in his line of vision so he remembers to do it tomorrow.

“Get home safe, Mr. Kang,” Mr. Han says as he steps back into his office and shuts the door.

Yeosang’s eyes drift from the shut door of his boss’ office to the framed picture on his desk and he sighs, but even so, he runs his fingers over his daughter’s smiling face.

He loves that girl more than anything.

He always will. The small girl got him through some of the toughest moments of his life.

She’s _still_ getting him through everything.

That small girl is _his._

When the clock turns half two in the afternoon a few minutes later and he finishes what he’s doing, Yeosang logs out of his computer and packs his bag, ready to leave. He informs his boss that he’s done for the day and then leaves the office.

He walks to his parked car in the company’s underground car park and gets in, putting his bag in the passenger seat. The perks of working in a big company.

Starting up the car, he starts his way to Haewon’s school.

Yeosang, luckily, beats the school-time traffic and gets to the school five minutes before his daughter is due to be dismissed so he decides to sit in the car, out of the freezing mid-November weather.

The boy picks up his phone and unlocks it so he can pass time, but another picture of Haewon’s face stares back at him when he does so.

Everything he does seems to smack him in the face with the fact the girl isn’t his. Everything that used to be a normal part of his day just waves the fact in front of him almost mockingly.

 _She just isn’t yours biologically,_ Yeosang’s mind corrects him and he nods, trying to convince himself.

Haewon is _his_ daughter in every other way.

Blood doesn't decide family.

The blond-haired boy decides that maybe the cold weather will be good for him and take his mind off everything else, so he slips his phone back into his pocket and opens the car door. Once he’s out, he shuts and locks the car, walking to the school gates, the cold wind blowing in his face, slightly numbing his face.

It’s a good feeling to help ease his mind.

The teacher standing beside the gates greets him as he walks in and he smiles at her, giving her a little nod. When he gets to the door of Haewon’s classroom, there’s only a few minutes until the end of the school day.

“Mr. Kang?” A familiar voice suddenly calls and Yeosang freezes, recognising it.

_Why is he here?_

The blond-haired boy is about to ignore the shout of his name, but he decides it’s better not to draw the attention of the other parents and not to cause any sort of scene that could attract any attention, so he turns around slowly.

“It _is_ you,” Sooah’s dad’s tone is a little shocked, but he looks somewhat relieved.

Yeosang can’t keep the bitterness out of his words, “Why are you here?”

The dark-haired boy looks slightly taken aback from the boy’s harsh question, but quickly recovers, “Today’s Sooah’s first day at this school.”

_What?_

And then Yeosang remembers, Haewon’s class was due to have a new student after Saehyun left. Is Sooah the new student?

“Who’s Sooah’s teacher?” Yeosang asks slowly, hoping that Haewon and the girl aren’t in the same class. It would be easier to avoid Sooah’s dad if so. He doesn’t want to go through the pain of yesterday.

“Uh, hang on,” the boy pulls out his phone and scrolls through it for a few seconds before saying, “Mrs. Seo.”

Haewon’s teacher.

Yeosang nods, not wanting to overreact in front of the other parents, overreact in front Sooah’s dad, “Ah, okay.”

The blond-haired boy forces a small smile on his face as he turns away. Maybe if he ignores everything it’ll go away.

Ignorance is bliss, after all.

Sooah’s dad doesn't think so though and doesn't leave as moves to stand near Yeosang. “What a small world. I moved back here with Sooah a few days ago actually,” he says.

Yeosang pays no attention to the boy and just stares intently at Haewon’s classroom door, begging it to open so he can just get away from Sooah’s dad, away from this situation. To the boy’s surprise, before Sooah’s dad can say anything else, the classroom door is pushed open and Mrs. Seo starts calling out names.

“Sooah! Haewon!” Both of the girls are called out together after a few other students’ names.

Yeosang automatically frowns, but moves closer to the door to get his daughter.

Haewon and Sooah come running out together, hand-in-hand, big grins on their faces.

The sight of the two together causes Yeosang to pause, eyes drifting to their interlocked hands.

Why are they holding hands? Did Haewon become friends with his biological daughter?

The boy suddenly can’t breathe again.

“Daddy!” Haewon squeals, releasing Sooah’s hand as she runs into her father’s legs, wrapping her arms around them.

Yeosang lets out a few deep breaths before plastering a smile on his face and bending down to pick his daughter up. He knows he has to stop doing so soon, she’s getting too big, her fifth birthday in a little over a month, but she’s his little girl.

The boy kisses her forehead, greeting her before he turns, ready to leave the school property, but Sooah’s dad stops him.

“Mr. Kang, _please,_ ” his tone of voice is desperate.

This causes Yeosang to face the man quickly, afraid he’ll say something in front of their daughters. Whether or not they’ll understand doesn't matter, he just doesn't want anything mentioned in front of them. They’re _babies._

He widens his eyes at the father, gesturing him with his head not to say anything.

“I know, I won't. I’m not _stupid,_ ” the dark-haired boy mutters and raises an eyebrow, arms secure around his child. “I just want your number. We can talk about everything later.”

The blond-haired boy is ready to reject and leave with his daughter, but his eyes fall to the small girl in Mr. Jung’s arms. She stares back at him innocently, her brown eyes wide and shy. Yeosang’s breath catches in his throat as images of Eunkyung flash through his mind. Images of a loud and bright girl, the exact opposite of Yeosang. And then images of her in the hospital giving birth to their daughter.

_Images of her losing her life to give their daughter one._

He bites his lower lip, trying to suppress any tears forming.

He knows he owes this to Eunkyung.

He can do this for her.

Haewon is his daughter, but he can just get to know the girl in front of him. For Eunkyung.

Yeosang looks back at Sooah’s dad and sighs, nodding, “Fine.”

Sooah’s dad eyes widen, clearly not expecting him to agree, and then he’s frantically putting his daughter down on the ground to pull out his phone like he’s afraid, afraid of Yeosang changing his mind and leaving.

The blond-haired boy does the same and puts Haewon down, the girl immediately going over to Sooah, both starting to talk about something.

He takes the phone from Sooah’s dad’s outstretched hand and pauses, fingers hovering over the screen. But then he starts typing his number in, naming his contact plainly as ‘Yeosang’.

“Here,” Yeosang hands the phone back when he’s done. “I’m Yeosang. Let me know it’s you when you message me.”

Sooah’s dad holds the phone with both hands and stares at the screen like he’s holding some sort of treasure.

And when he finally recovers, he looks at Yeosang, “I’m Wooyoung, Jung Wooyoung. I’ll message you tonight.”

“I look forward to it,” Yeosang says with barely any emotion as he holds his hand out for Haewon. “Come on, Haewonie.”

Haewon says her goodbyes to Sooah before grabbing her father’s hand and they start walking to the school gate.

“Goodbye, Mr. Kang!” Sooah’s dad calls out.

Yeosang doesn't turn back as he walks with his daughter towards their car, hoping he didn't make a mistake giving his number to Sooah’s dad. He helps Haewon in and buckles her in once they’re at the car before getting into the driver’s seat.

He doesn't start the car, both hands on the wheel as he leans his forehead against the top of it. He breathes out deeply as thoughts start flooding his head and he begins to feel overwhelmed.

Is he letting down Haewon by agreeing to this? He’s doing this for Eunkyung, but what about his own little girl?

He turns around to the said girl sitting in the back, playing absentmindedly with the straps of her school bag.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?” Haewon innocently asks when she notices her dad is looking at her.

“I love you,” he speaks. “So much. You’ll always be my baby.”

The girl frowns and hides her face behind her hands, shy, whining out, “Daddy!”

“I’m serious. I love you so much.”

Haewon slowly moves her hands away, a small pout on her lips, “Love you, too. Love you more than anything.”

Hearing those words slightly calm Yeosang down and he smiles, reaching over to give one of her small hands a squeeze.

“Daddy?” His daughter suddenly speaks up, questioningly.

“Hmm?”

“If you love me so much, can we get ice cream?”

Yeosang narrows his eyes at the girl upon hearing the request, “It’s winter.”

“Please?” She begs, her eyes bright and hopeful.

He sighs. He knows he’s going to give in, even more so with the state he’s in.

“Please?” Haewon tries again at the lack of response, dragging out the word.

“Fine, just this once and then none until it’s hot again. And _one_ small scoop,” he finally says and his daughter squeals, thanking her father over and over again.

Yeosang smiles softly.

“I want that one,” Haewon points at a brightly coloured blue and pink swirled ice cream. “It looks pretty!”

“You sure? Don’t choose it just because it’s pretty,” Yeosang frowns, looking down at his daughter, knowing how picky she is. “You never like anything other than chocolate.”

His daughter looks up and nods insistently, firm about her choice, “Yes, please, Daddy.”

“Don’t whine if you don't like it.”

“I promise I won't!”

The father nods and they go over to the counter to order. He makes sure to order chocolate for himself in case Haewon doesn't like her flavour and also orders what she chose for herself.

After he’s paid for the sweet treats, the woman behind the counter scoops up the ice cream he’s requested into cones, handing both of them to Yeosang and Yeosang thanks her.

Haewon whines and reaches up when she’s not immediately handed her ice cream, but Yeosang just guides her to a booth they can sit in to eat it. He finally hands her her cone when they’re sat down.

“Thank you, Daddy,” she says happily, taking the cone from her father’s outstretched hand.

Yeosang smiles, “No problem, baby.”

The blond-haired boy takes a small lick of his ice cream, waiting to see if his daughter wants to swap. He watches her carefully as she licks the blue and pink iced treat. Haewon frowns, but tries it again. She clearly still doesn't like it after the second lick and holds it away from her, but doesn't say anything.

“You good?” Yeosang asks.

She just nods, not looking at him as she frowns at her ice cream, glaring at it.

Yeosang laughs softly, “You don’t like it, do you?”

“No,” Haewon says sadly, pouting. “But you told me not to whine.”

The boy just rolls his eyes playfully as he reaches over and takes her ice cream, replacing it with his chocolate one and Haewon’s eyes widen as she looks at the cone.

“What's wrong?” The father asks as he licks the replaced ice cream and takes a small bite after he decides he likes it. His daughter is just too plain and picky.

“Are you sure, Daddy?” Haewon is still holding the cone away from her, cautious.

Yeosang nods reassuringly and smiles at her, “Of course. Daddy likes anything.”

After observing her father a bit more, the small girl is pleased and starts eating her ice cream with a little excited, “Thank you!”

Yeosang looks at his daughter fondly as she happily eats the sweet treat. His heart feels full and he knows he’ll never be luckier than this. The small girl in front of him has made him the luckiest person in the world and he’s so grateful. He always will be.

“How was school?” Yeosang asks after a few moments. “I saw you made a new friend.”

Haewon’s face brightens even further and she grins, “Sooah is in my class now! She’s so nice!”

“Hmm, is she?” The father reaches over and ruffles Haewon’s hair, feeling warm at her excitement. “Tell me about her.”

Haewon thinks for a few seconds before she’s speaking at lightning-fast speed, “Remember we met her at the funfair and then at the hospital? Then I saw her again in school and she was alone and even though I was a little bit scared, I asked her if she wanted to play with me and she said yes! And Daddy, guess what?”

“What, baby?”

“We have the same birthday! Exactly the same!”

Yeosang almost chokes on his ice cream at the ridculousness of the situation.

“We’re like sisters!”

This time he almost laughs out loud at how absurd everything is, but stops himself and nods as he says, “I guess you could say that.”

His daughter and biological daughter are friends. Who would’ve thought anything like this would ever happen in his life?

Haewon talks more about her day and Yeosang listens with full interest and curiosity. She gets ice cream everywhere as she talks too, so he has to reach over with a tissue and clean her up.

Though, despite the mess Haewon makes and how weird everything feels considering the situation he’s in, Yeosang’s heart feels full being here with his baby.

“Okay, so we can watch a movie before we make dinner since you have no homework tonight,” Yeosang starts listing their plan for the evening as he enters the house with Haewon, shutting and locking the door behind them. “Then it’s bath time and bed.”

“A movie?” The girl asks excitedly and Yeosang nods, helping her out of her outerwear and shoes.

“Choose one,” he tells his daughter. “Let me get my work clothes off.”

Yeosang leaves his daughter downstairs as he makes his way to his room to finally get his suit off after a long day. Once he gets some comfortable sweats on, he picks up his phone to take downstairs, ready to get back to his daughter.

Suddenly he remembers he gave his number to Sooah’s father and he quickly looks through his notifications for any sign of contact from the man, but he sees none, only some work emails, notifications from his social medias and some messages from his group chats.

Why hasn't Sooah’s dad contacted him yet? Did he change his mind? Did he forget? For some reason, even though he was initially against the man getting to know Haewon, the thoughts make Yeosang anxious for some reason so he decides to leave his phone upstairs and just spend the evening with his daughter.

“What did you choose?” Yeosang asks once he’s downstairs.

He sees the girl is scrolling through Disney+, thanks to San teaching her, when he enters the living room.

Haewon looks up, “Can we watch Frozen?”

“ _Again?_ ” Yeosang sits down beside his daughter.

His daughter narrows her eyes at her father, glaring slightly, “Uncle Sannie would watch it with me.”

“Why are you glaring at me? I didn’t say I wouldn't watch it,” he grins, taking the television remote from her and pressing play on Frozen. “I’m better than Uncle Sannie.”

Haewon carries on glaring.

“Aren't I better than Uncle Sannie?” Yeosang asks, pretending to be hurt as he presses a hand over his heart.

Haewon frowns, pulling her father’s hand away from his chest, “You’re my daddy and Uncle Sannie is my uncle. My love is different for you and Uncle Sannie.”

“True,” the father smiles, pulling his daughter into his lap. “Where did I get such a smart and loving daughter?”

 _His_ daughter.

Haewon giggles as Yeosang presses multiple kisses all over her face and pushes him away.

Yeosang laughs, pulling his baby closer as he presses play on the movie.

They spend the evening watching the movie, Haewon animatedly narrating the movie while Yeosang listens with full interest, and luckily, Yeosang is able to get his mind off getting a message from Sooah’s dad. When the movie is finally finished, it’s almost half six in the evening.

Yeosang stands up and stretches, looking down at Haewon, “What do you want for dinner?”

“Bibimbap,” Haewon tells her dad after thinking for a few moments.

“We don't have enough ingredients for that.”

“Then japchae.”

“Not enough for that either.”

“Jjamppong?”

“Nope.”

“Daddy!” Haewon yells, frustrated.

Yeosang only had time to shop for basics before work today, with his online grocery shop being delivered tomorrow evening, the boy not being able to find a delivery slot for today.

He smiles sheepishly at his daughter, apologising, “Sorry, baby. How about kimchi fried rice?”

The pout on the girl’s face disappears instantly at the suggestion, kimchi fried rice being one of her favourite meals, “Yes, please!”

Yeosang nods, glad at the choice that was made too since it’s an easy dish to make.

Some kimchi from the fridge, some spam and some microwaved rice all fried together with some sesame oil, sesame seeds and chopped spring onion as garnishes. Done.

“Let’s make some food then,” the blond-haired boy holds his hand out for Haewon and she grabs it. Yeosang pulls her up and they make their way to the kitchen, getting started on making their dinner.

Haewon helps her father with cutting the kimchi and stirring, though Yeosang does take most control of it. He just wants to let Haewon feel like she’s helping. She does most of the work sprinkling the garnishes on top though. They’re done quite quickly after starting, fifteen minutes to be exact so Yeosang gets Haewon seated.

“Here you go, baby,” the boy hands his daughter her plastic bowl full of the fried rice with a spoon, placing a cup of water beside her.

“Thanks, Daddy!” Haewon says as Yeosang takes a seat across from her with his own food, but there's a slight tiredness to her voice.

“It’s bath time and then bedtime after this,” the father informs the small girl.

Haewon doesn't protest and just nods as she eats and because of this, Yeosang knows she's worn out, ready to sleep.

“You sleepy?” He asks, taking a bite of his food.

The girl nods again, eating her food slowly.

Dinner takes longer than usual, normal when Haewon gets sleepy. Yeosang has to help the girl finish her food, feeding her himself and ultimately deciding to eat his food after Haewon is in bed so he can quickly get her bathed and ready to sleep.

He takes his daughter upstairs and keeps her beside him while he runs the bath, knowing if he leaves her in a room, she’ll fall asleep. Bath time is a quick affair, Haewon too tired to play with her toys. Yeosang makes an attempt, but she just half-heartedly pushes her toys around the tub.

“Okay, once you’re dry and dressed, you can finally get into bed,” Yeosang tells Haewon who’s sitting on her bed, wrapped in a big, fluffy towel.

Ten minutes later, Haewon is finally in bed, her teddy bear securely in her arms.

“Daddy, stay with me until I’m sleeping,” the girl’s words are slurred from tiredness and not wanting to trouble her any further, Yeosang gets into her bed, pulling her into his arms.

The blond-haired boy strokes the girl’s hair until her breathing becomes deeper. Yeosang stays with her for a few more minutes, just basking in his little girl’s warmth. When he finally gets up after leaving a kiss on Haewon’s forehead, it’s almost eight.

He quietly leaves the room.

The boy walks into his room to grab his phone that he left upstairs before making his way downstairs to finish his dinner.

Yeosang cautiously picks up his phone, like any notifications from Sooah’s dad will burn him and he slowly unlocks it. There’s still no notifications from the said boy and Yeosang silently sighs in relief.

He pauses.

If he’s relieved at having no notifications from Sooah’s dad, is he actually ready to have Sooah’s dad meet his daughter properly? Is he ready to meet Sooah properly?

Yeosang doesn’t have time to think further because his phone starts vibrating in his hand, an unknown number lighting up his screen.

Panicking, the blond-haired boy throws his phone onto his bed.

Is it Sooah’s dad? Why is he calling instead of messaging?

The phone vibrates for a few seconds longer before it stops and Yeosang calms down, but it’s short lived because it starts vibrating again. 

He warily steps closer to the bed and picks up the phone, the same unknown number flashing across the screen. Slowly, Yeosang accepts the call, bringing the phone up to his ear, “Hello?”

“ _Oh, hi,_ ” the familiar voice of Sooah’s dad’s voice speaks softly, the desperate tone from yesterday and earlier replaced by cautiousness. “ _Sorry if I’m disturbing you. I just got Sooah down for the night and thought it’d be the best time to call you._ ”

Yeosang takes a seat on his bed, “Uh, no, I just got Haewon down, too, don't worry.”

“ _Oh, okay. That's good then._ ”

The two boys go quiet, neither of them speaking for a few moments.

“ _So, uh,_ ” Sooah’s dad finally speaks. “ _I_ _was wondering if you’d be up for dinner tomorrow at my house? You and Haewon. I’m gonna cook._ ”

“Oh,” the blond-haired is surprised at the invitation as he says, gingerly, “Uh, I’m not sure.”

The boy on the other end of the call goes quiet again, speaking again a few seconds later, “ _It’ll be a good time to speak about things like boundaries, Mr. Kang._ ”

“Yeosang.”

“ _What?_ ” Sooah’s dad is confused.

“Uh,” Yeosang pauses. “You can call me Yeosang, Mr. Kang makes me feel old. I'm only twenty-six.”

“ _Ah, sorry,_ ” the dark-haired boy laughs nervously. “ _I’m gonna be twenty-six this month, too._ ”

“Oh, wow,” the blond-haired boy plays with a loose thread on his clothing. “What a coincidence.”

And genuinely, what a coincidence that a boy of the same age would end up raising his biological daughter. Everything just seems so ridiculous at this point.

“ _Yeah,_ ” the younger boy’s voice comes out slightly tense. “ _Is dinner tomorrow okay? We can do dinner at a restaurant if you’re not comfortable coming to my house._ ”

Yeosang thinks over Sooah’s dad’s request, not sure if he should accept. He wants to do this for Eunkyung, but is _he_ strong enough? He’s not sure.

“ _Yeosang?_ ” The voice on the other end of the line asks quietly. “ _Are you there?_ ”

“Ah, sorry, yeah, hi.”

“ _Is dinner okay then?_ ”

“Yeah,” Yeosang finally agrees, sighing. “Dinner should be okay.”

Sooah’s dad is obviously surprised as he asks, “ _At my place?_ ”

“That's okay.”

“ _Uh, okay, yeah,_ ” Sooah’s dad stutters out. “ _I’ll text you the address and time._ ”

“Okay, sounds good.”

The two go quiet again, neither knowing what to say, but both of them not hanging up either.

“ _Yeosang?_ ” Sooah’s dad’s soft voice asks suddenly.

“Uh, yeah?”

“ _I know how hard this is for you, it’s hard for me, too, but thank you,_ ” the dark-haired boy says quietly and with that, he hangs up.

Yeosang brings the phone down from his ear and just stares at the screen, even after it goes black.

And he can’t help but think, _is he making a mistake?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this update came quite early wow. it was mostly a filler with some important plot to it, but we'll see some progress in the next chapter hopefully !!
> 
> also im going to start writing a christmas ateez fic (sansang or woosang im not sure yet) so the next update for switched may take a little longer. i just wanted to let you know!!
> 
> thank you for all the comments last chapter, and i hope you liked this one!! <3


	5. Chapter 5

“Haewon!” Yeosang calls out as he tidies away the dishes that were left on the side of the sink to dry in the morning before he and Haewon left the house. “Are you finished eating?”

Yeosang and Haewon are finally home after their hectic day of work and school respectively, with his daughter eating an after-school snack in the living room, and the father could not be happier to be done with the day. However, whenever the thought of being done with the day comes to mind and he feels that the day is actually over, with him being able to just relax with Haewon for the rest of the evening, Yeosang remembers he has to go to Sooah’s dad’s house in the evening, and he can’t help but feel anxious.

He doesn’t want to face reality, but he knows he has to. He has to come to terms with everything, or he’ll never feel okay again, the weight of the revelation weighing down on his heart and mind. He’ll never be able to live peacefully with his daughter without facing it.

He has to face reality, but he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to.

The blond-haired boy gets no response to his question from Haewon, and instead he hears the sound of tiny footsteps entering the kitchen. Haewon stops beside her dad and holds her empty plate up to him without speaking.

Yeosang had made her toast with Nutella and some strawberries as per her request as a compromise. As usual, she wanted ice cream, but Yeosang is set on keeping his word of no ice cream until it’s warm out again. 

Yeosang raises an eyebrow at the lack of words from his usually hyper daughter, but takes the plate anyway with a, “Thank you, sweetheart.”

He quickly washes the plate and dries it with the towel set aside for the specific job before putting it onto the dish rack. After he’s done, he faces the small girl who hasn’t left his side, watching on wordlessly. She stands beside him, arms wrapped around his leg, cheek resting on his thigh.

Yeosang frowns, “You want juice or water?”

Haewon just shrugs, eyes wandering down to their feet, still not speaking her answer.

The father’s heart clenches, not used to seeing his daughter so down. It’s a rare occasion it happens. He bends down and picks the girl up, to which Haewon just buries her face into her dad’s neck, finding some comfort there.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Yeosang questions, rocking her slightly in his arms.

As he expected, Yeosang doesn’t get a reply, she just pushes her face further into her father’s neck, so he doesn’t push her for one.

The blond-haired boy sighs softly before reaching over to the sink and turning the tap on. He grabs Haewon’s cartoon-printed plastic cup from the side and fills it with water. Turning the tap off, he brings the cup to his daughter’s lips. She takes a few sips before shaking her head and pushing the cup away, so Yeosang rinses the cup and places it on the side.

“Wanna watch TV with Daddy, or do something else?”

The little girl finally speaks up, mumbling into her dad’s neck, “Can we watch cartoons on your phone in your room?”

Yeosang’s not going to say no to anything Haewon requests at this point, afraid of making her feel worse, so he smiles and says, “Of course, sweetheart.”

The father makes his way upstairs and into his room with Haewon still tucked safely in his arms. He places the girl on his bed before getting in, too, pulling her against him. Yeosang pulls out his phone and presses on YouTube, passing the phone to Haewon. The girl looks through her dad’s recommended page before pressing on a cartoon she likes. Once she’s skipped the advert, she leans against Yeosang, eyes not leaving the screen.

As Haewon watches her cartoon cuddled up with her dad under the blankets, Yeosang rests his cheek against her head. He watches the cartoon with her for a few minutes, before looking at Haewon when a part she usually laughs at is about to play. His heart warms up at the sound of her light laughter and Yeosang feels calm.

Yeosang has this cartoon memorised at this point, looking over at Haewon whenever parts she likes comes on. Despite being in a bad mood, she smiles, subconsciously moving closer to her father.

“Wanna tell me what’s up?” The blond-haired boy finally asks when the cartoon finishes, locking his phone. Yeosang doesn’t want to push her, but he also doesn’t want to let whatever’s bothering her fester in her mind.

Haewon doesn’t look at her father, her eyes on the black screen of his phone. Yeosang can see her reflection in the screen and sees that she’s frowning.

“Haewonie,” the tone of the blond-haired boy is serious now. He leans down so he can see her properly, turning her around slightly, “Tell me what’s wrong. I can help, you know I can. I’m your dad. You’ll feel better.”

This seems to make Haewon break, tears filling her brown eyes and she starts crying, “Daddy!” She crawls into her dad’s lap and buries her face into his chest.

Startled, Yeosang’s eyes widen, but he wraps his arms around his daughter nonetheless, slowly rocking her, “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“I—I don’t wanna go to Sooah’s house!” Haewon cries into her dad’s chest, not elaborating any further.

Yeosang is confused, so he cautiously pushes for more clarification, wondering why the sudden change of mind, “Why, my baby?”

Haewon was so happy hearing that they were going to Wooyoung and Sooah’s house when he told her earlier in the day.

“I—I was mean to Sooah!” The small girl hiccups, looking up at Yeosang with her watery eyes. “We _fighted_ about crayons!”

Despite always correcting Haewon’s words when she makes mistakes, he knows now isn’t the right time.

The blond-haired boy's heart breaks at how upset his baby girl looks and sounds, but is slightly relieved that the problem was somewhat small.

Sooah and Haewon are both four-year-old children, they’ll have these small fights. It’s normal.

“Yeah? What happened?” Yeosang is still rocking the girl back and forth, his chin resting on her head.

“I—I wanted to use the blue crayon, and Sooah wanted it, too!” Haewon starts, words coming out mumbled and fast. “I was using it and it fell on the floor, then I stepped on it by accident! Then it _broked!_ ”

“How were you mean, then, Haewon? It was an accident,” Yeosang runs his fingers through the girl’s hair, trying to calm her down slightly so she doesn’t get too worked up and make herself sick.

“Daddy, I _broked_ it! Sooah thinks I did it so she couldn’t have a sky in her picture! I want to be Sooah’s friend, but she thinks I’m mean! I _was_ mean!”

“Baby, listen to me,” the blond-haired boy turns the girl so she’s facing him. “I know you, you wouldn’t do anything like that on purpose. You were going to give her the crayon after, right?”

Haewon nods frantically, “Yes, Daddy, I said I’d give it after I finished.”

“It’s not your fault it fell on the floor and it’s not your fault you _accidentally_ stepped on it,” Yeosang emphasises the word, so Haewon understands.

“But Daddy, Sooah’s mad at me!”

“Maybe she was just sad that she couldn’t use the crayon, Haewonie, I’m sure she’s not mad,” the father pulls the girl back to his chest and presses a kiss to her hair. “It is _not_ your fault, sweetheart.”

Haewon is quiet for a few moments. “Are you sure, Daddy?” She murmurs into Yeosang’s chest.

“Positive, baby. You trust me, right?”

She doesn’t speak, just nods against his chest.

“Okay, good,” Yeosang says, holding Haewon close in a tight hug. “We don’t need to go to Sooah’s house if you don’t want to, it’s completely your choice.”

Yeosang isn’t going to force his daughter to do something she doesn’t want when she’s not in the right mindset. He wants to show her that she always has a choice.

The girl speaks after a few minutes, after she’s thought about whether she wants to go or not, “It’s okay, we can go.”

“Do _you_ want to go?”

“Yes, Daddy, it’ll be okay,” Haewon nods.

“You sure?”

Haewon nods again, crawling out of her dad’s lap and off the bed onto the floor, “Yes, but I need to do something before we go.”

Yeosang watches the girl run off into her room with no further explanation and he’s about to follow her when he decides that maybe he should talk to Sooah’s dad about what happened during the school day. They might be able to sort things out between the two new friends.

The blond-haired boy picks up his phone from where it’s laying on the bed and unlocks it. He scrolls through his recent calls until ‘Wooyoung’ appears, the boy having saved the contact a few minutes after they ended the call last night. His finger hovers over the contact, hesitant on pressing the call button.

Just when he gathers enough courage to press the call button, his phone lights up with a call instead, Wooyoung’s name displayed at the top of the screen.

What a coincidence.

Yeosang decides this is the universe telling him to suck it up and have some confidence, so he presses the green button.

“Hello?” He speaks into the phone.

“ _Yeosang! Hi!_ ” Wooyoung’s bright voice greets him, completely different from the night before, and Yeosang wishes he could be that confident, too.

“Hi, Wooyoung,” the blond-haired boy can’t help but slightly smile at the tone of Wooyoung’s voice, some of his nervousness slipping away. “I was just about to call you.”

“ _Oh, really?_ ” Wooyoung sounds surprised and Yeosang understands why, the boy has been a little hostile to him the past few days.

“Uh, yeah,” Yeosang is suddenly nervous again, quickly changing the subject. “Why did _you_ call?”

“ _Oh, I wanted to— One sec,_ ” Wooyoung cuts himself off, and then Yeosang can hear a mumbled, “ _Sooah, get down from there! You’ll fall! I said wait for Daddy!_ ”

“ _Daddy!_ ” A small voice whines back on the other end of the line.

The blond-haired boy laughs lightly, having experienced situations like this firsthand.

“ _Hi, sorry, I’m back. Sooah was climbing onto the kitchen counter to get a spoon._ ”

“Don’t worry, I understand,” Yeosang assures, smile still on his face.

“ _So back to what I was gonna say,_ ” the dark-haired boy starts. “ _You’re still coming to dinner, right?_ ” There’s a tinge of worry in his voice now.

Yeosang can understand why, he really doesn’t want to do this — doesn’t want to face reality. Sooah’s dad knows that. But Yeosang knows he owes this to Eunkyung, to Haewon and Sooah, even to Wooyoung. He can’t let his own selfishness let other people suffer.

He knows Haewon is his daughter no matter what.

Wooyoung said it himself. Sooah will always be his daughter and Haewon Yeosang’s.

There’s no harm in letting him get to know Haewon, no harm in Yeosang getting to know Sooah.

That’s what Yeosang’s been telling himself since last night.

Despite this though, Yeosang replies, “I’m not sure.”

“ _Oh,_ ” Yeosang can tell Wooyoung is caught off guard. “ _Why? Did something happen? Is this about Sooah and Haewon, and their crayon? Or are you just having second thoughts?_ ”

The blond-haired boy startles, eyes wide, “What? How did you know?”

“ _About Sooah and Haewon? Sooah told me. She’s been upset since she got home from school. She kept on telling me that she was mean to her new best friend._ ”

“What did you tell her?” Yeosang can’t help but ask.

“ _Assuming that Haewon accidentally stepped on the crayon, Sooah wrongfully accused Haewon,_ ” Wooyoung starts and pauses for clarification.

“Haewon told me it was an accident.”

“ _From how Sooah told the story, it sounded like an accident, too,_ ” the dark-haired boy agrees. “ _So I calmed Sooah down and told her she should apologise to Haewon when she comes over._ ”

Yeosang doesn’t reply, but he acknowledges that Wooyoung handled the situation well.

“ _Sooah agreed and now she’s just waiting for Haewon and you to come over._ ”

“Oh,” is all Yeosang says.

“ _Yeosang,_ ” Wooyoung says softly. “ _I understand if Haewon doesn’t want to come over anymore, you shouldn’t force her, but we should be helping the girls make up._ ”

The blond-haired boy sighs, “You’re right.”

Haewon’s already told Yeosang that she’s okay with going over to Wooyoung and Sooah’s house. Yeosang knows he’s just using this as an excuse to avoid his own problems.

“I... It’s just...” Yeosang trails off, not knowing what to say.

But Wooyoung seems to understand what the boy was trying to say anyway as he replies, “ _Yeosang, it’s going to be hard, we both know that. It’s going to be hard for the both of us. We just found out that the girls we raised as our daughters aren’t biologically ours. But one thing I can definitely assure you is that Haewon_ is _your daughter, just as much Sooah is mine. Haewon is yours, Yeosang._ ”

Yeosang can feel tears brimming his eyes so he quickly wipes them away, not giving them a chance to fall.

“ _And I know you might be thinking why I’m so desperate for us to meet when I already have my beautiful daughter,_ ” Wooyoung’s voice stutters slightly, his words coming out shaky. “ _But I don’t know, I feel like I owe this to Sooah._ ”

And Yeosang feels the same so he tells the dark-haired boy just as much.

“I—I,” the blond-haired boy pauses to clear his throat. “I feel the same.”

“ _Then let’s do it, Yeosang. Let’s give this to our daughters.To_ us _._ ”

Yeosang nods even though Wooyoung can’t see him, “What time should we get to yours?”

Yeosang can hear the smile in the dark-haired boy’s voice as he says, “ _In an hour or so? I’m almost done with the food, so I’ll see you soon?_ ”

“Okay, see you soon, Wooyoung,” Yeosang agrees before he ends the call.

The blond-haired boy can feel tears filling his eyes again as he watches his phone screen go black. This time, he lets them fall freely.

He reaches over to his bedside drawer and pulls open the top one. He sorts through it before he finds what he’s looking for. Picking it up, he bites his lip as more tears fall down his cheeks.

A photograph of him and Eunkyung.

He slowly traces the smiling face of the girl in the picture, eyes bright, a small smile forming on his lips, too.

He knows he owes this to Eunkyung. He doesn’t want to fail her again.

Yeosang looks on at the picture as he sobs quietly, his heart heavy. He misses her so much and now he’s losing the one thing he had left of her.

“Daddy?” A soft whisper comes from the doorway of his room. Haewon stands there, cautious, peering into the room. “Why are you sad?”

Yeosang smiles sadly seeing his daughter. He places the photograph onto the drawer and holds his arms out for Haewon. She quickly accepts the invitation and runs into her father’s arms.

“Just missing your mother, baby,” Yeosang’s never hidden Eunkyung’s existence from Haewon, starting to tell her stories and show her pictures as soon as she turned a year old. Despite Haewon not understanding the stories he was telling her at that age, Yeosang never stopped.

Yeosang didn’t want Haewon growing up not knowing her mother.

The girl frowns and drops whatever she was holding onto the bed beside Yeosang. She uses her now free hands to wipe her father’s tears away, pouting, “Don’t be sad, Daddy.”

“I’m okay, my beautiful baby,” the blond-haired boy pulls Haewon into a tight hug. “I have you.”

“Yes, I’m here,” she says proudly before the girl whispers into her father’s neck. “Love you lots and lots.”

“I love you so much more.”

They stay like that for a few minutes, Haewon in Yeosang’s arms, and Yeosang feels at peace, happy and content.

He knows he wouldn’t be where he is today without Haewon.

“Daddy?” Haewon speaks after a few minutes.

“Hmm?” Yeosang hums, his chin resting on the girl’s head. He presses a kiss there.

His daughter reaches beside him and picks up what she was holding earlier. She holds it up so he can see, “Can you help me open this? I want the blue crayon.”

Yeosang raises an eyebrow at the new box of crayons and smiles. He does as he was asked and pulls the blue crayon out and hands it to the small girl, which she takes happily.

“Is that for Sooah?” Yeosang is grinning.

Haewon blushes slightly and nods, shy, “I wanna be her friend again.”

“Where did I get such a sweet daughter?” Yeosang pulls her back into another tight hug.

Yeosang and Haewon stand in front of Wooyoung and Sooah’s house an hour later, Yeosang with a gift bag in his hand and Haewon with a smaller one, the blue crayon wrapped up carefully.

“Daddy,” Haewon whispers, confused as Yeosang just stands there, trying to build up the courage. “The doorbell.”

He looks down at his daughter and then at the doorbell, “Ah, right.”

It takes Yeosang almost another half minute before he finally presses the bell, mostly due to Haewon getting impatient.

The blond-haired boy can hear some movement from the other side of the door before it’s pulled open a fee seconds later.

Wooyoung stands there with Sooah behind his legs and he grins big, greeting them, “Hi! Welcome to our home!” The dark-haired boy moves aside, letting them in.

Yeosang and Haewon step inside as Yeosang replies, “Thank you for inviting us,” he hands over the gift bag, suddenly feeling awkward. “It’s, uh, some wine and then some banana milk for Sooah. Sorry, I didn’t know what to get.”

“What? No!” Wooyoung quickly accepts the gift bag, shaking his head. “You didn’t need to get anything. Thank you.”

The blond-haired boy smiles shyly and then looks down at his daughter, nudging her softly. Haewon stays rooted where she’s standing, timid.

“Go on, baby,” Yeosang encourages with a nod as the girl looks up at him.

Comforted by her father’s encouragement, Haewon steps forward, handing the small gift bag to Sooah without a word. Sooah takes it with the same timidness as Haewon and opens it, a small smile forming on her lips as she sees what’s inside.

Without saying anything, she quickly runs into a room, running back out with a messily wrapped gift.

Yeosang looks up at Wooyoung and they both share a knowing look, hiding their smiles.

“This is for you,” Sooah says softly, handing the tissue paper wrapped gift to Haewon.

Haewon takes it from Sooah’s outstretched hand and once she’s unwrapped it, a big grin plays at her lips.

A blue crayon.

“I’m sorry for being mean today,” Sooah says, looking down at her feet.

Haewon steps closer to Sooah and takes her free hand with hers, “Me too.”

Sooah looks up at Haewon and smiles, “Do you want to play in my room?”

The girl looks up at Yeosang for permission, “That’s fine as long as Wooyoung is fine with it?” Yeosang turns to Wooyoung for permission, he is the host after all.

“Sure, but bring Haewon to the kitchen for dinner when I call you, okay?” The dark-haired boy tells his daughter.

With a cheerful ‘okay,’ Sooah pulls Haewon in the direction of her bedroom, the two girls giggling as they do so.

Both fathers look on fondly before Wooyoung guides Yeosang into the kitchen, “I haven’t set the table yet, sorry. I gave Sooah a bath and then helped her wrap her crayon.”

Yeosang shakes his head quickly, “No, don’t worry. It’s fine.”

Wooyoung smiles at Yeosang, telling him to take a seat as Wooyoung starts pulling out some plates. Yeosang refuses and insists on helping, and the dark-haired boy finally relents when he realises he won’t win.

They both set the table quietly, Yeosang not knowing what to say or how to carry the conversation.

“So I made kimchi jjigae, rice of course, meat dumplings and some other basic sides,” Wooyoung lists off, frowning slightly. “I know it’s not much, but cooking with a four-year-old is hard.”

“I know how you feel,” Yeosang sighs, smiling slightly and Wooyoung feels more at ease as he smiles back. “But honestly, it’s more than enough. Thank you for cooking.”

“Thank you for coming, for agreeing to this.”

Yeosang nods, “It’s okay.”

Once the table is set with the food served, Wooyoung calls out for Sooah and Haewon, and the two girls come running into the kitchen, hand-in-hand.

Dinner is a fairly calm affair, the two fathers asking the girls simple questions which turn into stories where they forget what they were saying and restart the whole story. The girls also talk amongst themselves, sharing food and discussing what they’ll do in school the following day. This leaves Wooyoung and Yeosang to talk to each other and they just share how busy their day has been.

The two boys go quiet after a bit, just eating their meal, listening to the excitement in their girls’ voices. Yeosang looks over at Sooah who’s sitting opposite Haewon who’s beside him. She talks animatedly, with her hands, dropping bits of food time to time with her father scolding her and cleaning up after her.

But Yeosang freezes when he sees her eyes crinkle as she and Haewon giggle about something, her features resembling Eunkyung’s exactly.

And reality hits him.

Here he is, sitting at Haewon’s biological dad’s kitchen table with his biological daughter beside him, all of them eating dinner together.

How did his life get so messy?

Yeosang needs to get out of the room, he needs space to breathe.

So the blond-haired boy stands up abruptly, startling everyone at the table, “Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom.”

“Oh,” Wooyoung looks up at Yeosang and nods. “I’ll show you where it is.”

“It’s okay, I’ll find it,” he says quickly, leaving the table before Wooyoung can follow him.

The bathroom is easy to find, Wooyoung and Sooah’s home only having one floor. Yeosang shuts the door behind him, locking it before rushing over to the sink. He turns the cold tap on and lets it run for a bit before he splashes the cold water on his face.

How is he supposed to do this? How is he supposed to see Sooah knowing that she’s his daughter biologically? Why is he supposed to be reminded that Haewon isn’t his?

Yeosang is snapped out of his thoughts by a knock on the door and a voice calls out, “Yeosang, are you okay?”

It’s Wooyoung.

Yeosang wants to open the door and scream, scream that he’s not okay, that he can’t do this, but he knows he shouldn’t take this out on the dark-haired boy. He’s facing the same thing as Yeosang. Even though they’re coping differently, he knows Wooyoung is just as hurt.

Who wouldn’t be when finding out their child isn’t theirs?

There’s a few more knocks on the door and calls of his name, but Yeosang ignores them and closes his eyes, trying to collect himself. 

Sooah flashes in his mind as soon as he does, and then his mind is flooded with images of Eunkyung and Yeosang just wants to scream.

How could he fail Eunkyung like this? He owes her this. Sooah was the baby she held before she passed away. He owes her to get to know her child.

He owes this to Haewon. He owes her a chance to know where she came from when she’s older, owes her a chance to know who she is.

Images of his smiling baby girl crowd his mind and he’s finally decided.

He shuts the tap off and shakes the water off his hands. He walks over to the bathroom door where Wooyoung is still calling out his name and he opens the door.

“Let’s do it,” is the first thing Yeosang says when he makes eye contact with Wooyoung with no further explanation.

The dark-haired boy is clearly confused, “What?”

“You can meet Haewon whenever you want, but only with my supervision. And you _cannot_ mention anything to the kids, not until they’re older and they understand why everything happened the way it did.”

Once Wooyoung has pieced together what Yeosang just said, his eyes widen and he nods quickly, “Let’s do this, Yeosang.”

Yeosang owes this to Haewon and Eunkyung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i said i wanted to write a christmas ateez fic but i had only half written by christmas :(( maybe i'll post it next year
> 
> im not entirely happy with this chapter and i had to rewrite it a lot. idk i feel like its so rushed even though i spent a month-ish writing and rewriting :((
> 
> anyway, on a brighter note, ateez got a bonsang!!
> 
> thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed the chapter!! please leave me a comment if you did :D


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